Albus Potter and the Cask of Panacea
by hollyblight
Summary: timid Al starts first year with fiesty Rose and best bud, Scorpius who's always eating. Werewolves are involved at some point. Later Rose/Scorpius.
1. Chapter 1: The Sorting

Disclaimer: All Harry Potter Series characters, etc. belongs to J.K. Rowling

CHAPTER 1: THE SORTING

Albus Severus Potter continued to press his nose against the glass window even after the Hogwarts express rounded a corner and his father and the rest of his relatives disappeared from view. He watched the blur of the view outside roll behind the train quite absentmindedly and it was not until his cousin spoke behind him that he decided to tear himself away from the window, which was now moist and foggy with his breath.

"I'm scared," Rose Weasley murmured. She was hunched over a copy of A Beginner's guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch.

Al did not reply. He did not really know what to say as he himself was scared too. His fear was probably a product of his nervousness that has been fermenting in the last few weeks. It was not that he did not want to go to Hogwarts, in fact it was all he ever wanted until the day it finally came true, until all the possible bad and embarrassing things that has been brewing at the back of his head suddenly decided to make themselves known. What if he didn't make any friends? What if all his teachers hate him? What if he fails everything? What if he was placed in Slytherin?

"Do you think I'll be placed in Slytherin?" Al suddenly blurted out. Rose stared at him for awhile, as if trying to discern the best response.

"No," she finally said. "I don't think so. Slytherins are said to be cunning and resourceful. You're too honest and too shy to be Slytherin"

For some unknown reasons, this settled him somewhat. Even when they were children, Rose's opinions meant a lot to Al. It was just the way she says things, how she always sounded sure. His dad said she probably got it from her mother. He said Aunt Hermione has always been like that, someone whom he and his Uncle Ron always relied on when it comes to answers because of her ability to rack her stored knowledge so precisely in a matter of seconds and come up with the best possible solution to almost everything. He said Rose was like a miniature version of her, despite her bright red hair and freckles.

"You'll probably be in Hufflepuff," Rose continued in her matter-of-fact tone, "You strike me as a hufflepuff. Hard-working, loyal. Or Gryffindor since Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny were sorted there, too." Her eyes glazed for a moment, a signal that she was in deep thought, something Aunt Hermione also does. "I wish I were in Gryffindor"

"Bet you'll be," Al said at once. "You're feisty,"

Before Rose could answer, the compartment door opened. They both turned to see a pale boy with an equally pale blonde hair and pointed face poke his head into the compartment. His eyes turned from Al to Rose and back again.

"Can I sit here?" he asked quietly. Al nodded and turned to Rose who, Al noticed, was frowning slightly at her book though he was sure she wasn't reading at all.

The pale boy entered the compartment reluctantly. He sat opposite Al and stared at the window. Al shifted uncomfortably on his seat and waited for the pale boy to say something. When he did not, Al decided to act, as the uncomfortable silence was starting to make him sweat.

"So, what's your name?" He asked quickly.

"Scorpius," he said in a drawl of a voice. He sounded bored. This made Al even more uncomfortable. His inherent shyness was immediately suggesting that he curl up into a ball and leave this apparently unpleasant conversationalist. He ignored the prospect and took a deep breath.

"Well, my name is-"

"I know who you are," Scorpius interrupted, his gaze suddenly fixed on Al. "You're a Potter," he said in his bored tone, as if this information was hardly worth his time. Al flushed slightly and decided not to say anything more and simply started playing with his thumbs. He was never sure around very straight-forward people.

"That's not who he _is,_" Rose suddenly piped in, somewhat annoyed. "He's not just _a Potter_, his name is Albus. And _you_," she snapped, "You're a _Malfoy,_" she said his name with such contempt, it sounded like a swear.

Scorpius Malfoy was quite taken aback by Rose's hostility, which seemed surprising as he seemed to be asking for it anyway with the way he's been talking. "I didn't-"He started to say. A slight tinge of red erupted over his cheeks and he frowned slightly at Rose, obviously finding her distasteful.

"No need to ask who you are," He suddenly snapped back. "I know a _Weasley_ when I see one," he said with an equal disdain.

"_And what is that suppose to mean_?" Rose retorted with anger slowly creeping into her voice.

Scorpius shrugged and turned back to Al, ignoring Rose's fuming. She gave him an angry look then turned back to her book.

"So, what house do you expect to be in?" Scorpius asked after awhile.

Al shrugged, still starring at his thumbs. "I dunno. Rose reckons I'll be in hufflepuff," he looked up and was surprised to see a small sneer creep across Scorpius's face.

"You're joking, of course," He said with amusement as he leaned back on his seat. "You're not going to Hufflepuff, those people are pansies, my father said so," he cocked his head to the side and stared at Al as if studying him. "You don't look like a pansy to me,"

Al smiled slightly at this because he always thought of himself as somewhat of a pansy. It really doesn't help that your older bully-of-a-brother beats any self-esteem and confidence out of you every chance he gets.

"You should be in Slytherin," he added. Al's smile quickly vanished and Rose suddenly looked up from her book. Scorpius noticed their expressions and frowned. "Oh," he murmured. "You're that kind of people, huh?"

"What?" Al asked before he can stop himself.

"You're those people who believe all the slime they say about Slytherin folks," he explained.

"Well, they are true," Rose said. "Slytherin does have a bad reputation. I wouldn't want to be in a house that used to house all those _murderers,_"

A dark shadow passed over Scorpius's face and he shot Rose a sharp look. "Slytherin wouldn't want you, anyway," he interjected. "I bet you'd like to be in Gryffindor with all their fancy heroics and tales of bravery and all those bull, huh? The Bold and the Brave Gryffindors, huh? There _were_ good people in Slytherin, too," he said quite hotly. Rose's mouth dropped open.

"I bet that's what your _Dad_ told you," Rose, just as fiery, retorted. Al wondered what prompted Rose to suggest this. "I've heard about you and your family, Malfoy"

"_I've heard about you and your family, Malfoy_," He said in a high-pitched, mocking tone. Rose turned red, stood up and left the compartment. Al didn't make any effort to stop her. Rose was always so easily offended. Scorpius watched her leave with a satisfied smirk then turned back to Al.

"You shouldn't hang out with people like that, Albus, or they'll rub off you" he said. "Those Weasleys have a short temper. My father said so,"

Albus smiled. "My mum's a Weasley. She's my cousin,"

Scorpius immediately retracted his sneer and stared at Al with a slightly amused, slightly apologetic look. Then almost suddenly they both started laughing and the uncomfortable air around the compartment left at once. After awhile they started talking about other things and were still talking until the Witch with the tray of sweets arrived.

"Anything off the cart, boys?" She asked. The two bought a few chocolate frogs and others. Al opened a frog and took out a card. Albus Dumbledore winked at him from the frame.

"Who is it?" Scorpius asked through a mouthful of cauldron cakes.

"Dumbledore," Al said and placed the card in his pocket. "I was named after him, you know. And another headmaster, the one who took over after Dumbledore, Snape. My dad knew them both, apparently,"

"Snape, huh? My father likes him. His favorite teacher," Scorpius said. He swallowed the cake in his mouth and turned to Al. "Albus Severus Potter, huh? Bet your mum wasn't too happy," he said with a grin.

"Your one to talk, _Scorpius_," Al grinned back. "You mum must really love your dad to agree to that name,"

Scorpius shrugged and chuckled as he began to stuff himself with more cake. Then his eyes wandered towards the compartment door. "Your cousin's gone a long time," he said, his voice muffled with cake. He swallowed a large lump before continuing. "You don't think she's still angry with me, huh?"

Al shook his head. "Rose is a natural hot head. My Dad says she's as sensitive as her mum and as short-tempered as her dad and that's not really a good combination. But don't worry, though. She's always like that with me and we've been friends for years,"

Scorpius started prodding his cake with his fingers. "I just don't like it," he suddenly said seriously, "when people judge me and my family for something that happened a long time ago," he frowned.

Al remained quiet. He knew about the battle at Hogwarts as much as everyone else, that is, through stories. He didn't know how much of it really happened as words of the mouth tends to exaggerate over time and his parents and those who knew what happened first hand, never talks about it much. He certainly had no idea what the Malfoys did to upset a lot of people but there are stories and records that say they used to be in league with the Dark Lord. He really didn't care, either way. Scorpius was a good enough company so far and that was enough for him.

"I mean," he continued, "We're trying to turn over a new leaf but people still throw us dirty looks when we pass through streets sometimes." An uncomfortable silence followed this revelation.

"Oh, well, you sound horrible," Al said loudly. "If I were those people, I'd throw more than dirty looks, I'd actually throw something heavy at you," he grinned sheepishly. Scorpius grinned back.

"A guy did once. Father caught it and the guy asked for it back and when Father didn't give it back he threw his other shoe at him"

Suddenly, the compartment door opened and Rose staggered in with her face buried in her hands and trickling in between her fingers were crooked red lines that look horribly like blood. Behind her was a very tall, very burly and very mean looking boy.

"Flint!" Scorpius exclaimed as Al rushed to see how Rose was faring. Al turned to look at the boy, Flint. He was indeed large, and had a grinning face that looks like a pug. Behind him was a girl who also looks like a pug.

"Scorpius!" Flint said with apparent delight. "There you are! What are you doing hanging around with these losers?"

"What the hell did you do?" Scorpius asked with horror, his eyes fixed on Rose's bleeding face.

"Oh, have you met my sister, Pepper?" Flint said, ignoring the horror-struck look of the occupants of the compartment as he dragged his sister forwards. "Pepper Pansy Flint. She's starting this year, too." The girl grinned savagely at Scorpius who ignored her completely. He turned to Flint.

"What did you do?" he repeated, a little angrier this time. "Do you want to get in trouble, is that what you want?"

"Hey, it's her fault!" Flint answered. "She should've minded her own business!"

"What?" Scorpius asked in disbelief. "What business can you possibly have that's so important as to hex anyone who decided to give a mind to it?"

"They were bullying me," said a somewhat dreamy tone from behind the two Flints. A small boy with straggly blond hair and a dazed look squeezed between the two Flints and entered the room. Al recognized him immediately as Lorcan Lovegood, the son of Luna Lovegood, a good friend of his father and after whom Lily Luna, his sister, was named after. "She helped me. Poor girl," he walked towards Rose and patted her on the back with equal intervals. This seem to make the situation worse as with each pat, a new spurt of blood fell on the floor until Al was forced to push Lorcan away.

"You best fix this, then," Scorpius told Flint who just gave him a look of confusion. Suddenly his face brightened with a smile. "Yeah, right," He roared and laughed and turned around and walked away with his sister at his heels. Scorpius just gaped at his retreating back, wondering who got the best of that conversation.

Al tried to pry away Rose's hand from her face but she wouldn't let go. "Let me see it, Rose! We have to fix you up!" he finally managed to remove her hand from her face and immediately realized why she would not have him do it in the first place. On her forehead, drawn with her own blood, was a very crude drawing of something obscene. It was from it that the blood was trickling from.

"Does it, uh, hurt?" Al asked uncertainly. Rose shook her head. She seems to be in the verge of tears. "How do we get all this blood off?"

"I don't think it's blood," Lorcan interjected. "It's charmed paint. My mum uses it to paint. It's more economical, she says. And less messy than normal paint,"

At this, Scorpius turned his back to the compartment door and peered at Rose. A small sneer slowly appeared on his face. "I can fix that," he said after awhile and drew his wand from his robe. Rose looked horrified at the prospect. She shook her head and backed away. "No! You'll only make it worse!"

"No, I won't" Scorpius answered with a frown and stepped forward.

"Can you remove it?" Al asked.

"Nope," Scorpius said matter-of-factly. "It's some sort of permanent paint. But I know how to make it change its appearance. It's like drawing with your wand," he raised his wand and pointed it at the drawing. It quivered then bulged and as Scorpius twirled and traced with his wand, the paint followed like a charmed snake. Al watched with amazement as the crude drawing turned into a very accurate and well made picture of a dragonfly which hovered over Rose's right temple. After Scorpius was done, Rose looked like she had a large, red dragonfly tattoo on her forehead.

"There," he said with relish. Lorcan clapped delightfully.

"That's amazing. You should meet my mum. She's pretty good with charmed paint, too. She spends her time drawing flying Skarks. They're very hard to find, you see and they change appearance every other week" And with that, Lorcan gave them each a small, dreamy smile and left the compartment.

Al and Scorpius watched him leave with amusement.

"I really doubt if there's such a thing as a Skark," Al said after a while. Scorpius shrugged and turned to Rose. "You can have it removed at Hogwarts. I bet they know how to do those things," he said with a grin at Rose who blushed slightly. She murmured thanks then slipped into one of the chairs and turned to look at her reflection on the window. The rest of the ride to Hogwarts was somewhat more comfortable now that Rose was less hostile towards Scorpius.

Finally, the Hogwarts castle loomed into view. Al and Scorpius started pulling on their robes while Rose continues to read fervently as she had already put on her robes back at the station. Then they sat in silence. Al felt dizzy all of the sudden as his nervousness started flooding back and all those worst case scenarios from before was once again buzzing inside his head. He could tell that the two others were as nervous as he was. Rose was still buried in her book though her eyes were still and glazed and Al could tell that she was reading the same sentence over and over again. Scorpius kept changing his position, from cross-legged to hunched over his knees to leaning back on his chair while his eyes kept darting from the view outside the window which was already dark to his hands. Finally, the train stopped at Hogmeade station and the three joined the crowd of nervous and excited students now filling up the station.

"Firs' years! Over 'ere, Firs' years!" A booming voice whom Al recognized as Hagrid called over the sea of heads. Al have seen Hagrid quite a few times, usually during his birthdays or his cousins' birthdays but he still couldn't help but feel amazed at his magnitude. He joined the group of reluctant first years moving toward Hagrid who led them towards a number of little boats slowly bobbing over the waters. He, Rose and Scorpius took a boat for themselves and waited until the boats steered themselves towards Hogwarts castle.

The large oak front doors opened and the students were led inside Entrance Hall then towards a smaller room to await sorting while the rest of the older students piled into the Great Hall. Al and the rest of the first years waited nervously, some talking in hushed voices and some, like Al, were just fidgeting where they stood. After a few minutes a tall, sandy-haired professor entered the room carrying a roll of parchment.

"Okay, first years, settle down," He called over the crowd. Silence settled over immediately. "Right. Okay, my name's Professor Finnigan. In a while I'll be leading you into the Great Hall to be sorted and I'd like to do that in an orderly fashion so please form a neat single file, if you don't mind"

The students shuffled and arranged themselves into a single line and looked expectantly at Professor Finnigan, waiting for him so give the signal. After what felt like eternity, he opened the door of the room and led them all back towards the Entrance Hall and into the Great Hall. The Great Hall did nothing to pacify Al's nervousness. If anything, it made him more agitated as a great number of eyes turned to look at them. Al's eyes immediately turned towards the Gryffindor table and spotted his brother, James, and cousin, Fred, almost immediately. James gave him a large grin and he grimaced back. His eyes then turned towards the Ravenclaw table next. His other cousin, Victoire, gave him a sweet smile and a thumbs-up. He turned his towards the front, towards the Staff table. In the middle sat a woman with a very stern face and thick white hair tied in a very tight bun behind her. On her one side sat a tall and thin black professor who smiled heartily at the new students. Al watched him catch Professor Finiggan's eyes and they both grinned at what seem to be a private joke. On her other side sat an extremely fat and old professor with a large, gray, walrus mustache. On his other side sat a friendly-looking professor with a round face and whom Al recognized immediately as Professor Longbottom, the herbology teacher. On the other side of the black professor was a very pretty woman with long black hair who was busy having a conversation with a haughty looking professor. On the far end of the table sat Hagrid who was positively beaming at every one. And in front of the staff table was a small stool on which sat a very battered and patched wizard hat. Suddenly, the hat moved, a tear near the hem opened and the hat began to sing. The sorting hat's song was exactly as Al's mother described it. It sang about each of the houses and their traits. After the song, it settled back into its usual battered state.

A hush fell over the hall as Professor Finnigan unrolled the parchment in his hand and began to call out names of first years. Nervous first year after nervous first year walked towards the hat, were sorted and walked towards their respective tables who accepted them with cheers and warm applause. Al hardly listened to the names of the students being called. He was too busy trying not crumple into a heap of nerves and butterflies and he only paid complete attention when Scorpius's name was called out. The teachers all turned to look at him and Al saw a look of surprise on the faces of Professor Finnigan, Professor Longbottom, the black Professor, the Pretty Professor, and the Haughty Professor. Professor Finnigan turned towards the black Professor with all the evidence of laughter on his face.

Scorpius took his place on the stool, placed the hat over his head. It only took a second before the hat declared him Slytherin and Scorpius rushed towards the cheering table at one end of the hall. He sat and caught Al's eye and gave him a nervous grin. Al returned it slightly then turned back towards the hat. After a while his name was finally called. He walked stiffly towards the seat, raised the hat over his head and placed it on top of his head, but not before he caught the look of incredulity on Professor Finiggan's face who grinned and turned his head towards the staff table, probably towards the black professor. The sorting hat fell over his eyes and nose, the musty smell of the inside of the hat filling his nostrils.

"Hmmm," a voice inside the hat said. "Interesting. You're very different from your brother, you know. I sorted him in Gryffindor almost immediately. You're very much like your father, maybe more. I wanted to place him in Slytherin, too."

"_It's going to put me in Slytherin_!" Al thought. He was surprised that he did not feel as panicky about it now as he had back at King's cross station. It was probably because Scorpius was in Slytherin, too.

"Yes, I am. And I've never been wrong before, too. You'll do well in _Slytherin!_" It yelled out the last word for the whole hall to hear. He removed the Sorting Hat and was surprised to see a look of general astonishment and confusion from all the four house tables, especially from his brother who looked like someone just slapped him across the face. Even the Slytherin table's claps and cheers were not as loud as they were for the other new Slytherins, as if they were unsure if they should be happy about this arrangement at all. Only Scorpius was grinning and clapping enthusiastically. He scooted over to give Al a place to sit. Al sat down and turned towards Rose who was looking at him with a half-shocked, half-worried expression.

Finally, when only a few more students were left, Rose's name was called. She walked over the hat and had hardly placed it over her head before the Hat proclaimed "Gryffindor!" at which the Gryffindor table exploded with cheers. The rest of the first years were called and Sorting was finished. Professor Finnigan rolled the list of names once more and joined the rest of the staff. The stern-looking woman cleared her throat and silence fell over the Hall once more as they turned to listen to her.

"Welcome and welcome back to Hogwarts. I am Professor McGonagall, the Headmistress," She announced. "It's always a treat to see eager faces at the start of term. Before we start our feast, I would like to announce, for the benefit of the new students, that the Forbidden Forest is _forbidden_ and will remain so for a long, long time," she eyed the Gryffindor table and Al saw James and Fred grin sheepishly. "Students are not allowed outside their dormitories after dark. Also, a list of forbidden items are listed on Mr. Filch, our caretaker's office and on each of your dormitories and I advice you all take a glance at it to avoid trouble. I believe that's all. Let the feast begin," She sat down and, almost immediately, the golden plates and goblets in front of each student filled with food of all sorts.

Al and Scorpius helped themselves with all their favorites and were busy talking and laughing at how nervous they were and how glad they were that they're going to be classmates that it took them a while to notice that tall dark skinned 7th year boy had sat opposite them. He cleared his throat and both Al and Scorpius looked up and peered at the newcomer. The boy waited until they stopped chewing before he spoke.

"Hello, my name is Dylan Zabini, I'm a Slytherin prefect," he said in a pompous tone. He turned to Scorpius and smiled. "My father knew your father well, I believe," then he turned to Al, "And my father knew your parents too, Potter" but his tone was somewhat colder than it had been for Scorpius. "You two are a strange sight," He added after awhile.

"Oh yeah? Why's that?" Scorpius asked while busily stuffing himself with more roasted potatoes.

"What do you mean, _why_?" Zabini asked in surprise. "It's strange enough that there's a Potter in Slytherin but you two seem to be in good terms"

"Why's that?" It was Al's turn to ask. He couldn't help but notice that almost every eye on the table was on him. "Why is it strange if I'm in Slytherin?"

"You really don't know?" Zabini asked in disbelief. "You are aware of your father's reputation, at least?. There are books and plays all about it!"

"Yeah, I'm aware that he's some sort of celebrated war hero" Al said, suddenly feeling irritated at the way this boy was talking to him and the way everyone was intently starring at him. "I guess you're referring to the fact that he sent a lot of Slytherins to Azkaban but I don't think that should matter when it comes to what house they put me in,"

"It does, actually. Half the people here have relatives in Azkaban because of him," Zabini pointed out. He turned to Scorpius. "Your grandparents, too, if I'm not mistaken"

"And that's not really his fault, now, is it?" Scorpius spat. He also seems to be getting really annoyed. Zabini was taken aback. "I didn't say it was. I was just…thinking out loud. I mean, it's not like they don't deserve Azkaban or anything," He turned back to Al and grinned sheepishly, "Look, don't take it personally, we're all good people here. If the hat says you're a Slytherin, then you're a Slytherin. Welcome aboard," he shook Al's hand, nodded at Scorpius and left to join the rest of the 7th years.

Scorpius shook his head and continued to stuff himself with potatoes. Al was quite glad he had Scorpius on his side. He was never good with confrontations. After the feast, they were instructed to follow their house prefects toward their respective dormitories. They were led outside the Great Hall and down a set of stairs leading down the cellars. They stopped abruptly in front of a bare stone wall. One of the prefects called out, "Nigellus!" and the stone wall slid open to reveal a large, dungeon-like chamber bathed in green glow from the numerous green lamps and green leather chairs and sofas that were scattered across the stone floor.

"This is the common room," One of the prefects announced. "The Boy's dormitory is that way," he pointed toward a rounded corner on the bare stone wall that revealed a stone staircase. "And the Girl's dormitory is over there", he pointed at an identical staircase on the opposite side. "Boys are not allowed in the Girl's dormitory and vice versa. Also, you are not allowed beyond the common room after dark. All your trunks and things are now beside your respective beds in your respective dormitories and your owls are not safely in the Owlery should you need them. That's all."

Al and Scorpius followed the crowd of Slytherin boys up the staircase. They stopped on the first landing which led to a slightly smaller room. The room was window-less. Instead, the walls were lined with torches with green light. There were five four-poster beds with dark green shades. On the foot of each bed were the boys' trunks and other personal items. Al and Scorpius proceeded to check their things while three more first years entered the room. They later found out that the three others were named Liam Harper, Owen Warrington and Jack Nott.

"I'm gonna check out the common room," Scorpius said. Al nodded and followed suit. They were surprised to find that the common room was almost empty. Apparently, everyone was too tired and sleepy to linger. Al followed Scorpius toward a green sofa near the fireplace which was ablaze with green fire.

"Interesting day," Scorpius said in his usual drawl. He yawned and stared blankly at the fireplace.

"I'm sorry about your grandparents," Al suddenly said. Scorpius turned and sneered at him.

"Why? Because of Azkaban?" He asked. Al nodded. Scorpius suddenly laughed. "Don't worry about it. They only stayed for a year, thanks to your dad"

"What?"

"He vouched for my grandmum and my dad," Scorpius explained, his voice reverting back to its usual tone of lack of interest. "Said they were working under threat of harm and death. And granddad helped the ministry track down the rest of the Death Eaters and surrendered everything he knew, and their hideout in exchange for freedom. So while the rest of them were locked up for life, my Grandparents were given just a year and a lifetime ban of using magic. They're free and fine now. Just under probation. My dad wasn't charged for anything at all," he grinned at Al. "They don't hate you and your family for it, though, so don't wet yourself over it"

Al grinned back.


	2. Chapter 2: Tea with Hagrid

CHAPTER 2: TEA WITH HAGRID

Al and Scorpius proceeded to the Great Hall for breakfast and were met halfway across the Entrance Hall by Rose.

"Merlin, Al!" she said breathlessly when she finally caught up with them. She gave him a quick hug and ignored Scorpius completely. Al noticed that the red dragonfly on her face was gone.

"Good morning to you, too," Scorpius said.

"I've been wanting to talk to you!" She continued. "Hogwarts is amazing! The Gryffindor Tower is amazing! Oh why do you have to be in Slytherin! James was so disappointed, too! Oh it must have been so awful for you to be in Slytherin. How are you?" She said all this so fast that Al simply stopped trying to make out words and just smiled.

"It's fine. I'm fine," Al told her.

"Oh that's good!" Rose piped up, suddenly more cheerful than usual.

"I'm fine, too, by the way," Scorpius interrupted with a mock cheerfulness. "I had such a jolly good time," Rose still ignored him and continued.

"I was so worried because I know you didn't want to be Slytherin in the first place, and I even said I was sure you wouldn't be in Slytherin" Rose said. "Did you make any friends?"

"No, Mum! I'm a pet dog!" Scorpius answered. Al smiled wryly. "I'm fine Rose,"

The three of them entered the Great Hall together. Rose said goodbye to Al and detached herself from them to join her new Gryffindor friends.

"You know, I think Rose really likes me," Scorpius said sarcastically.

"Don't worry about it. We're having Double Herbology with Gryffindors first thing this morning anyway. She'll warm up to you by then" Al answered. Actually, it was probably true. He knew Rose too well to know that the reason she had been ignoring Scorpius was because she was still guilty for being so cold to him when he obviously doesn't deserve it.

The two of them followed the rest of the Slytherin first years heading for the Greenhouses where they will be conducting their Herbology.

"Who do you think the professor's gonna be?" Scorpius asked.

"Professor Longbottom," Al answered. "He's a friend of my dad's"

"Longbottom, huh? I think my Father mentioned him once before. They didn't seem to be in good terms with the way he talked about him. But my father is plenty unpleasant, sometimes" Scorpius answered thoughtfully.

They entered the Greenhouse and sat down. The Gryffindors entered after them. Rose gave Al a small wave and sat with the rest of her classmates. Professor Longbottom entered the greenhouse after awhile. He waited for all of them to settle and be silent before he spoke.

"Please open your textbook, One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi and turn to the first chapter," he said. There was a general shuffling noise everyone retrieved their books from their bags. "Okay, let's start with a question. Who can tell me what a Devil's Snare is?"

Rose hands immediately shot into the air. Longbottom's smiled and shook his head slightly, as if he suddenly remembered something he couldn't believe he had forgotten. "Of course," he murmured and nodded at Rose. "Ms. Weasley?"

"Devil's snare is a type of plant that prefers dark and damp environments. It has the tendency to bind and squeeze anything that touches it or has been caught by it," she answered.

"That's very accurate. Ten points for Gryffindor. Given this, how do you stop a Devil's snare from choking the living life out of you should you be unlucky enough to be caught in it?"

"Burn it up," Scorpius answered in his usual drawl. Longbottom turned to see who spoke and a look of surprised flashed across his face.

"Very subtle, Mr. Malfoy. Another ten points," Longbottom answered. "Actually, there is no actual need to burn the plant up. A simple heating of the environment should loosen its grip. After all, Devils snare is very rare and therefore, very valuable. Now, let's move on to the chapter at hand"

The class ended a couple of hours later. Everyone hurriedly packed their things and left the greenhouse. Al and Scorpius were almost outside when Longbottom called them.

"Al, wait a second," he said. "You too, Rose," Al turned and saw that Rose was still inside the Greenhouse. She probably stayed behind to join Al after the class. Scorpius turned to Al, "I'll just wait for you outside, then." Longbottom turned and stared at Al, then at Scorpius and then back again.

"It's alright Mr. Malfoy, you can stay too" Longbottom called suddenly. Al noticed that he seem amused somewhat at the concept of Scorpius staying. Scorpius shrugged and the three of them stood where they were and waited for Longbottom to speak.

"Oh don't be so tense, come and sit down," he said and beckoned them towards three seats up front. The he conjured up a pitcher of pumpkin juice and some sandwiches. The three of them looked at each other then took a seat in front of the food. Scorpius immediately began stuffing himself with sandwiches.

"Both your mums were wondering how you two were," He nodded at Al and Rose. "So how are you?" They both shrugged and nodded and murmured that they were fine. Scorpius continued to eat. "You, Mr. Malfoy? How's Horwarts treating you?" Scorpius said a muffled "fine".

"Well, that's good. Actually, the main reason I asked you to stay is because a couple of your future teachers would like to see you personally," As if on cue, the greenhouse doors opened. "Ah, here they are,"

Al turned to see Professor Finnigan and the black professor enter, both grinning from ear-to-ear. "Hey, Neville! You got them to stay? Excellent!" Professor Finnigan said.

"Hey Seamus, Dean" He greeted and turned to the three students in front of him. "This is Professor Finnigan and Professor Thomas," he told them and turned to the newcomers. "This is Al, Rose and Scorpius Malfoy"

"Malfoy?" Thomas asked, his eyebrows raised. He turned to Scorpius and his grin seems to grow wider. "Blimey! He looks just like him, doesn't he?"

"Yeah, look at Harry's boy!" Finnigan said. "It's a bloody replica! 'cept he doesn't wear glasses, huh? His brother's not too lucky with that,"

"And you're Ron's, I bet!" Thomas said towards Rose. "Boy, all Weasleys look alike, huh? She kinda looks like Ginny,"

"She thinks like Hermione, though," Longbottom said, also grinning.

Al sat in silence. This was becoming a very bizarre conversation. The three professors seem to really enjoy themselves, though.

"So sorry, this must be really weird for you," Thomas suddenly said. "See, we're friends with your parents back in our school days. Well," he turned to Scorpius, "Not your dad, actually. We never really got along," Scorpius just shrugged. "Anyway, we had professor Longbottom stall you awhile because we wanted to get a good look at you two," he beamed at Al and Rose.

"So, Al," Finnigan said. "That's Albus, right? Your dad was pretty close with Dumbledore. Though I was pretty shocked he named you after Severus Snape, too,"

"Why's that?" Al asked.

"Well, they hated each other a good deal, didn't they?" Thomas answered. The two others nodded. "Yeah, they did. I wouldn't be surprised if he named you after Snape," he turned to Scorpius. "Your dad was his favorite student"

Al was amazed by this new piece of information. His dad rarely spoke about Snape though when he did, he always spoke highly of him, with so much respect. He always assumed he got along well with Snape as he did with Dumbledore.

"So, how is ol' Draco?" Finnigan said. "Never thought I'd see his son in Hogwarts, you know. I always assumed he'll send him to Durmstrang or something. He always brags about being almost in Durmstrang back in the day, didn't he?." Longbottom and Thomas nodded in agreement.

Al noticed that Scorpius was slightly frowning. It was apparent that these professors were not very keen on his father and made no attempt to hide it. Longbottom seems to have noticed, too.

"There's really nothing wrong with Durmstang, though," Longbottom said quickly. "Victor Krum was from Durmstrang, right?"

"Victor Krum? The Seeker? You've met him?" Scorpius suddenly asked. It was apparent from the glint in his eyes that he was an obsessed fan.

"Sure. He was here many years ago. He fancied your mum, too" Thomas said at Rose who opened her mouth in surprise. She was obviously unaware of her mother's previous love life.

"So, Slytherin, huh?" Finnigan turned back to Al. "Bet your dad'll be shocked when you tell him. He was a Gryffindor loyalist. So was your mum"

"I don't think they'll mind," Al answered as he remembered what his father told him before he left for Hogwarts.

"Of course they won't," Longbottom said. "Not Harry and Ginny"

"Oh boy, this is fun, eh?" Thomas grinned again but this time he was looking at both Al and Scorpius. "Potter and Malfoy in the same house! Who would've thought!"

"Here's your clincher," Longbottom said. "I think they're the next Harry and Ron," The three professors burst out laughing at this private joke. Al, Scorpius and Rose just looked at each other with confusion.

"You three are alright," Finnigan said after awhile. "Okay, we'll see you tomorrow, then". The three nodded. The three professors were still talking and laughing as the three quickly left the greenhouse.

"What was that about?" Scorpius asked. Al noticed that he was carrying a bunch of sandwiches in his arms. It was strange how he was always stuffing himself with food despite being so thin.

"They seem to be really having fun, though," Al said and nodded towards the greenhouse they just left behind.

"Eh," Scorpius said. "C'mon, lunch is starting,"

"What? You just ate!" Rose asked in disbelief.

"Oh, you're talking to me now?" Scorpius asked without looking at her. He was busy starring intently at the front doors as if lunch would disappear the moment he turned away from it.

Rose blushed slightly.

"How'd you get the paint off?" Al asked.

"Some of the older years helped me," she answered. "What classes are you having this afternoon?"

"Charms," they both answered at the same time.

"Oh, well, we're having Potions," Rose said. "And we're having Defense against Dark Arts with you again tomorrow, I think"

Al nodded.

They finally reached the Great Hall. Scorpius immediately began eating like there was no tomorrow. Afterwards, they headed for their Charms classroom. The professor was already there when they entered. She was writing on the board and had her back turned from them. Al and Scorpius settled on chairs on the front row.

The professor finally turned around and Al's heart skipped a beat as he recognized her as the pretty professor from the great hall. She was even prettier now at close proximity than she was yesterday. She had long and straight black hair that was very shiny, brown eyes that were very bright and a face that was very pretty. She smiled at the class and Al couldn't help but smile back.

"Good afternoon, class," She said. Even her voice is pretty, Al thought. "My name is Professor Cho Chang-Montgomery and I will be teaching you charms in the next seven years assuming, that is, that you pass you O.W.L.s in charms." Al made a mental note of this in his mind. "Alright, let's do a roll-call" and she started announcing names and confirming their presence.

"Albus Severus Potter," Al raised his arm almost too eagerly at this. Professor Chang-Montgomery turned to him and a look of surprise almost the same as the one on Longbottom's face earlier crossed her face. She smiled sweetly at him.

For the rest of the period, Al found himself working really hard on his Hover Charm, something which did not escape Chang-Montgomery and he felt his heart soar when she complimented his effort. Scorpius was not doing too well, though. His feather only hovered for a few seconds before crashing back unto the table. Al knew what he was doing wrong but did not say anything. As far as he was concerned, Scorpius's blunder was just making Al look good and he did not mind this at all.

"I hate charms," Scorpius mumbled. "It's stupid"

"You just hate it because you can't make that feather float" Al said defensively.

"Yeah, well, you just love it because you have a crush on the teacher," Scorpius retorted.

"I do not!" Al answered hotly.

"Yeah, right," Scorpius started batting his eyelids and began making kissing noises. Al laughed and tried to punch him but he just jumped out of the way and continued making kissing sounds.

"I hope I'm not interrupting your date, boys," A familiar voice said behind Al. The two looked up to see Al's brother, James grinning at them. James Sirius Potter looked nothing like Al. If anything, James looked more like Rose than he did Al. He had the same flaming red hair and freckles as their mother. The only thing James inherited from their father was his really bad eye sight and he had to wear round glasses for as long as anyone can remember.

"What do you want?" Al asked.

"Nothing," James said, suddenly serious. "How's Slytherin?"

"Fine,"

"Good," he said and beamed again. Al knew he was just as worried as Rose was earlier. "So, what's the Slytherin password?"

Al instinctively opened his mouth to answer but Scorpius interrupted him.

"Why'd you want to know?"

James turned to him as if noticing him for the first time. "Who're you?"

"Who's asking?"

"Who do you think?"

"You tell me,"

James opened his mouth to retort and, finding nothing further to say, closed it and grinned at Scorpius. "I like you, kid," he told him and extended a hand. "James Sirius Potter,"

Scorpius took it. "Scorpius Malfoy,"

James turned back to Al. "Seems like you found yourself a backbone, little brother," he said and slapped Scorpius's shoulder. "Never mind the password, I'll find out eventually. I like a little challenge" and with a small wave he left and joined Fred Weasley who was talking to another 2nd year.

"Charming, isn't he?" Scorpius said in his bored voice. Al rolled his eyes in response.

As it turned out, Al discovered in the next few days that Scorpius had an inherently bored voice. It took awhile for Al to see any distinction between his real bored voice and his normal drawl but there was definitely one there. In fact, even when he was pretty excited about something, his voice remained silky and tedious and it takes awhile to get used to. This discovery was about the most exciting thing that has and will ever happen in the next few days, which was pretty dull and uneventful. They spent the next few days experiencing their other subjects. Professor Seamus Finnigan turned out to be the Transfiguration teacher while Professor Dean Thomas was the Defense against the Dark Arts professor. Both of them were extremely cheerful instructors and tend to joke around most of the time and Al found himself enjoying their classes. Professor Binns taught History of Magic and he was extremely boring. Al and Scorpius were dozing off by the middle of the lecture and were shaken awake by Rose at the end of the class.

"Oh really now! It's just the first week and you two are no longer paying attention!" she scolded them. They both just grinned sheepishly and asked to borrow her notes. She glared at them and said she would but this would be the first and the last time.

Friday finally came. They were to have double potions with Gryffindor in the morning and have the rest of the day off.

"Rose and I are going to visit Hagrid later," Al told Scorpius over breakfast. "You wanna come?"

"Whose Hagrid?" He asked after swallowing another chunk of bread.

"The gamekeeper and care of magical creatures teacher," Al answered. "He's friends with my dad and he invited us for tea this afternoon,"

"Oh you mean the big guy?" Scorpius asked, suddenly interested. "I'd like to go,"

Potions was held in one of the Hogwarts dungeons. They seated themselves together with the other Slytherins and waited for the Professor to appear. After a few moments, the professor arrived. He was old and extremely rotund, with a giant gray walrus mustache across his face.

"Settle down, settle down," he said with such jolly and booming voice that one would never have guessed he possessed based on his appearance. "My name is Professor Slughorn and welcome to Potions." He instructed them to take out their books and began the lecture almost immediately. As usual, Rose answered almost every question thrown at the class and by the end of the period, she was evidently his favorite student.

He dismissed the class then approached Rose to congratulate her once more on being one of the most promising student he had had the pleasure to teach. Rose was already red from so much praise but she continued to smile and remain calm.

"I had the pleasure of teaching you mother as well, you know," he told her. "Very smart and very engaging, your mother was." His eyes suddenly caught Al who was standing nearby and waiting for Rose to finish packing.

"Ah, Albus Potter!" He beamed. "I had the pleasure of teaching both your Grandmother and your Father! Extremely talented they both were! And your mother! Why, she can throw a good hex, that girl can! I am expecting great things from you!" Al felt his face burn and he looked down and started investigating his shoes. Slughorn's eyes darted from Al to Scorpius who was also standing nearby. Al expected him to smother Scorpius with praise, too, but he simply smiled then turned and left.

"Oh well, I don't feel out of place at all!" Scorpius said loudly after Slughorn left.

"Don't mind him," Al said. "You ready, Rose? I was hoping we could eat lunch first before heading toward Hagrid's"

Scorpius grinned at this suggestion. The three of them hurried toward the Great Hall together and, after a quick lunch, made their way across the school grounds towards Hagrid's hut.

Al reached out and knocked on the wooden doors and was immediately greeted by a series of muffled barking and several minute yelps. It was followed by the sound of heavy footsteps crossing the wooden floor inside and the door swung open to reveal a very tall, very wide, very bearded man with small beady eyes and a wide smile.

"Al! Rose! So glad ye could make it!" Hagrid boomed. His looked over Al and Rose with glee which he retracted immediately when he noticed a third visitor.

"This is Scorpius," Al offered quickly. "He's a friend,"

Again, a look of surprise very similar to the other professors crossed Hagrid's face. "A friend eh? Well, any frien' o' Al's is welcome in my home," he said in a voice somewhat less warm than before. He swung the door wider to allow them inside. "Never thought I'd say that to a Malfoy, though," he added in a much lower voice which Scorpius caught anyway.

"Another one of my father's less-than-best chums, are you?" Scorpius asked with a forced grin that just ended up looking like a sneer.

"Your father's and grandfather's, boy," Hagrid answered as he closed the door behind him. "Caused me a lot o' trouble before, they did. Ah, but pas' is pas'! C'mon, sit! Tea's a brewin'!"

The inside of Hagrid's hut was exactly as Al's father described it. Small but cozy, with hams and pheasant hanging from the ceiling, a large bed in the corner, a large table with small wooden chairs, a fireplace upon which was boiling a copper kettle. At the foot of the table was a large boarhound whom Al knew was Fang. And around fang were three extremely noisy

"Puppies!" Rose squealed. The three pups immediately rushed towards them and began yelping excitedly around their ankles. Rose knelt down and began playing with them immediately. "Oh they are so cute!" she cooed. "Mum didn't want dogs in the house. Says they'll be the end of Crookshanks," Rose explained.

"Who's Crookshanks?" Scorpius asked while tentatively eyeing Fang who had emerged from the shadows of the table and had taken to slobbering all over his shoes.

"My mum's cat," Rose answered, still playing with the puppies. "He's extremely old and extremely grumpy. He's like over twenty years old! I didn't know cats could live that long," she added, frowning.

"Ah well, Crookshanks's magical," Hagrid explained. "I remember a row between yer mum and dad before, an' all because that cat might've eaten yer dad's rat. It's extremely silly now that I think about it." Rose giggled at this.

"What're their names, Hagrid?" Al asked. Hagrid looked down and frowned at the three puppies.

"That one's Knuckle, that one's Shade and that one's Fang Jr.," He said finally then frowned again. "Or that one's Fang Jr. I could never tell 'em apart," He shook his head and busied himself once more with the copper kettle.

The three took their seats and waited as Hagrid gave them each a large wooden mug filled with steaming hot tea and a plate of enormous cakes with large sickle-sized raisins. Scorpius took one without hesitation and took a huge bite and suddenly grimaced. Al took a bite at a small chunk and immediately knew why. It was hard as rocks. He put the chunk back on the plate, though Scorpius refused to give up and started nibbling the corners instead.

"So, how're your firs' days at Hogwarts?" Hagrid asked once he settle himself on a chair, a mug clasped between his palms. "Enjoyin' so far?" he turned to Al. "How's Slytherin treating you?"

"Fine," Al answered. "A lot of people seem really worried about it, though,"

"'course they're worried!" Hagrid answered. "Some o' the kids in Slytherin got a relative in Azkaban 'cause o' yer dad and yer parents," he nodded at Rose. "I believe yer Grandparents got some time in there, too," he said at Scorpius who nodded. "Harry vouched for yer dad, though didn' he?" he added and again Scorpius nodded. "Ah, well, he don' deserve to be in Azkaban, even if he is somewhat o' a prick back then," Hagrid said throughtfully. "'e was jus' a little boy then and under threat o' You-know-who, no less!"

Scorpius said nothing. He continued to nibble at his slab of rock cake like some sort of blond hamster. Al stayed silent at well. Rose continued to play with the little puppies. Suddenly, there was a loud knocking on the door. Hagrid opened it t reveal Professor Thomas looking very worried.

"They're out again, Hagrid!" he said in a somewhat panicky whisper. "They're out and it's the middle of the day!" his eyes darted from Hagrid's face and it landed on the three inside who was looking directly at him with curiosity etched all over their faces.

"Oh," his tone changed from worried to forced cheerfulness. "Hey, guys! Enjoying tea, are you?" then he turned back to Hagrid and motioned outside indicating that he wanted a private word. Hagrid turned to the three. "Y'all stay 'ere and finish your tea, alrigh'? Don' go out 'till we come back, y'hear?" he said with a serious expression then followed Professor Thomas outside. Once they were gone, Al immediately ran for the window, curiousity all ablazed.

"I wonder what they're talking about?" he said to the others, his eyes still fixed on Hagrid and Thomas who was now standing near the edge of the forbidden forest. Thomas was pointing frantically at something only he and Hagrid seem to see. Hagrid was shaking head every now and then.

"Who care?" Scorpius said through a mouthful of rock cakes. He seems to have finished half the plate already. He turned to Rose, "You don't mind if I eat your share right?"

Rose frowned at him. "What is _wrong_ with you?" she asked with disgust. Scorpius shrugged and began to nibble on more cakes.

"I want to hear what they're saying," Al said with apparent longing in his voice. Hagrid and Thomas had now disappeared under the shadows of the Forest.

"Why?" Scorpius asked.

"I dunno," Al answered truthfully. "It seem important. I'm just curious,"

Scorpius shrugged then stood up. "Let's go, then," he told Al. Rose also rose from her seat. "What? They said to stay here! _Hey_!" She nearly screamed as Scorpius made a motion for the door. She reached out and grabbed Scorpius's sleeve and refused to let go.

"C'mon, where's your sense of danger and adventure?" Scopius said with raised eyebrows. "You know? The Gryffindor spirit?"

"It's overridden by common sense!" She hissed, "Something which you Slytherin folks seem to lack! _Al, come back here!_" she snapped as Al silently walked towards the door.

"Aren't you at all curious, Rosie?" Al begged.

"Yeah, _Rosie_," Scorpius said with a sneer as he fruitlessly tried to release his sleeve from her grasp.

"No, I'm not," Rose answered fiercely. "And if one of you steps through that door, I swear I'll scream!" Al made no further attempt towards the door after this threat. He knew Rose well and he knew she'll do it. She's done it before. A few moments later, the door opened and Hagrid entered, looking extremely worried.

Hagrid turned to the three. "You guys should go back ter school," he told them gravely. "I gots business to do for the moment,"

"What was that about, Hagrid?" Al asked.

Hagrid shook his head. "Never you mind, Al," he told him then added in a very stern and somewhat accusing voice, "Don't go snooping around, y'hear? Stay in the castle fer now"

"Can I have these?" Scorpius piped up, indicating the plate of the remaining rock cakes. Hagrid looked at him with disbelief then handed the entire thing to Scorpius who took it gratefully.

Al felt a tinge of guilt. It's not like he intended to snoop around but the way Hagrid said it, it was like he was expecting him to snoop around anyway. The three of them left the hut without another word.


	3. Chapter 3: The Hospital Wing

CHAPTER 3: THE HOSPITAL WING

The castle was surprisingly ablaze with movement a few minutes after they entered. Every Professor and prefect were half-walking, half-running around, collecting students around every corridor and classroom, instructing them to head for the great hall post haste. Another few minutes later, a very familiar voice magnified a hundred times erupted from every wall of the castle.

"All Student are to proceed to the Great Hall immediately," said Professor McGonagall's voice. "All teachers are instructed to either escort their class into the Great Hall or collect any one you find along the corridors or on the school grounds and deliver them to the Great Hall," she repeated this three more times and the voice was gone.

With another bout of curiosity, Al dragged the other two swiftly into the Great Hall. He was so preoccupied with trying to get to Slytherin table as soon as possible that he was already halfway between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw table before he realized that Rose was desperately trying to free herself to join the Gryffindors.

"_Al!_" she cried when she finally got is attention. "Al, I'm not sitting at the Slytherin table!"

"Oh, sorry," Al said and let go. He and Scorpius found themselves some free space on the bench and sat and stared attentively at the teachers table. Scorpius continued to munch on his rock cakes.

After a while, almost every student, teacher, staff and ghost was present in the Great Hall. Professor McGonagall then stood up regally and silence fell over the excited crowd immediately.

"I have called you all here today," she started. Her voice, though calm, had a hint of anxiousness in it. "To imprint upon you how important it is that you _do not leave the castle under any circumstances_,"

A general murmur and look of confusion erupted after this first sentence. They were all apparently unaware of any immediate danger. McGonagall took a deep breath before continuing. "There are evidences that something is running amok in the Forbidden Forest," She said. "Something dangerous. Therefore, we have intended that in the next few weeks, every class and every event shall be conducted inside the castle. The staff of Hogwarts are doing everything in their power to keep the situation under control and would like to ask you, students, to follow the rules that we have set for you. It is for your own safety." She finished. "Any question?"

"What is it?" a voice from Hufflepuff said. "What's in the Forbidden Forest?"

"That is a question I'm afraid we cannot answer quite confidently at the moment," she said. "We have our theories. But rest assured that you students will be kept safe with the best of our abilities. All you have to do is _follow the rules_,"

"What about Quidditch, professor?" James voice from Gryffindor called out.

"We shall still be having Quidditch practices but under the supervision of a teacher. No practices are to be conducted without permission from your head of house," she answered. "Anything else?"

Suddenly, the doors of the Great Hall burst open and Professor Longbottom appeared looking harassed and extremely anxious. He rushed up to Professor McGonagall and whispered something in her ear. She frowned and nodded and Longbottom climbed up and sat in his usual place at the staff table.

"If there are no more question, please follow the prefects toward you respective dormitories, thank you. All other classes this afternoon is cancelled,"

The low excited murmuring increased in volume as soon as they left the Great Hall. Everyone seem to have their own theory about what was happening.

"I bet it's vampires," someone behind them said. "They seem to be a fad nowadays, isn't it?"

"I hear the Unicorns' gone rabid!" someone else piped up. "And you know nobody would hurt a unicorn so they can't harm it and it just goes and creates chaos in the forest,"

"Everyone knows it's Crawling Tertaculas," A dreamy voice said behind Al. He turned to find Lorcan looking intently at him as if he had been talking with him in the last few minutes.

"A what?"

"A Crawling Tertacula. They're a different breed of Tertaculas that had started breeding in the Forest over the last few years. They are very dangerous but they can be easily subdued by using the blood of moon frog. They hate the smell," and with that he walked away to join the rest of the Ravenclaw crowd.

Al and Scorpius looked at each other and grinned.

"I do wonder what's in the Forbidden Forest, though," Al said once they finally reached the common room. He sat on one of the sofas in front of the fireplace. Scorpius sat beside him. "I wonder how dangerous it is,"

"It's really dangerous, I think," A voice behind them said. They turned to see Liam Harper leaning against the back of the sofa. He walked around and sat with them. "I heard Finnigan and Thomas earlier, before they sent us to the Great Hall. Thomas said something about the Thestrals being injured"

"What?"

"You know, those horses that pull the school carriages," Liam answered haughtily.

"I know what Thestrals _are,_" Al answered hotly. "My brother said they were invisible"

"They are," Liam answered. "'cept for those who has seen someone drop dead" he said with a tone of superiority. "The things is, Thestrals are really scary and dangerous themselves so anything that can actually damage a Thestral should be much scarier and more dangerous, right?"

"Are you guys talking about the Forbidden Forest?" Said a nervous voice. They all turned to see Owen Warrington walking towards them. "You know what I heard?"

"No," said Scorpius impariently. "Obviously,"

"I heard there are basilisks in the forest," he answered spookily. Scorpius raised his eyebrows. "Basilisks? Giant snakes that can turn you into stone? That's stupid,"

"Why's that?" Al asked, feeling exactly stupid.

"Those are, like, legends, you know," Scorpius answered. "Things in stories used to scare little kids,"

"A basilisk used to exist in Hogwarts!" Owen replied defiantly. "Down in the chamber of secrets! My dad told me it petrified a lot of students back in his day," he turned to Al. "You should know! Your mum and dad went down there, I heard,"

Al shrugged. "They don't talk about it," he answered, which was true. Nobody in the family ever mentioned a Chamber of Secrets.

"Well, I doubt it's a Basilisk," Liam said. "I mean, Thestrals can fly. What's a snake gonna do when the Thestrals in the air? Anyway, I bet anything that there are Dragons in there," he added thoughtfully.

"They're illegal to have around," Owen answered. "Anyway, I doubt a dragon can be too much trouble for the staff. I mean, I know they're dangerous but there are people trained for subduing dragons,"

Al nodded. "My Uncle does that," he told them.

"I wish I had a Dragon," Scorpius said with a sneer. "It'd be so cool,"

"Maybe it's a mutated Dragon!"

Then the four of them fell into a conversation about what the best breed of dragon would be. By the end of the conversation they have invented a dragon that can spew ice, that can swim and that can change its appearance into a lizard at will. Afterwards, four of them headed for their beds.

The next day, being Saturday turned out to be extremely boring since they were not allowed to go out. Al and Scorpius were sitting by the fireplace and playing wizard's chess for the tenth time.

"This is stupid," Scorpius said for the thousandth time.

"You just think it's stupid 'cause you keep losing," Al grinned and patted his pocket cheerfully. The wonderful sound of gold coins reached his ears. It was extremely lucky that Scorpius was extremely rich and an extremely bad chess player.

"Let's do something else," He suggested.

"Like what?"

He shrugged. "Explore the castle?"

Al thought for a second, shrugged and stood up. The two of them left the common room and walked down a couple a corridors when they heard Rose calling them.

"Al!" she exclaimed and rushed toward them. She was strangely pale and breathless and was carrying a huge covered basket, "Thank goodness you finally went out, I've been trying to find you all morning," she told him with a huge grin on her face. She raised the basket to his nose as if this should answer all their questions.

"What is it?" Al asked.

"Is it food?" Scorpius asked hopefully, his hands slowly reaching for the package. Rose moved it out of his reach.

"No, weirdo," she told him and pulled the cloth covering the basket to reveal three black, moving things.

"Are those Fang's puppies?" Al asked in surprise. Rose nodded cheerfully.

"Did you _steal_ them?" Scorpius said. Rose rolled her eyes at him.

"No," she told him with a frown. "I left early after breakfast, while you were pigging out, and I saw Hagrid carrying this and talking to McGonagall. He saw me and beckoned me over. Apparently he wanted someone to baby sit the puppies for the moment and was wondering if McGonagall could find someone," she grinned again. "And I volunteered!"

"Oh, okay," Al said. "So why were you waiting for us?"

"Oh Al, you're so silly," she said as if the answer should be obvious. "I volunteered you, too!"

"What?" Al asked in disbelief at the same time Scorpius piped up, "And me?"

"There're three pups," She told him hollowly. "You can take one if you'd like,"

Scorpius shrugged. But Al protested. "I don't want a puppy, Rose! I don't even know how to take care of one,"

"Oh don't worry about it!" Rose told him. "You'll love him! Here," she reached out and took the smallest and blackest of the three. "Hagrid said this one's Fang Jr." she handed the puppy to Al then took another one, a slightly gray one with a very black snout, "This is Knuckle" she handed it to Scorpius who took it hesistantly. "And I'm keeping Shade here" she indicated the remaining puppy which was as black as Fang Jr. but had a brown patch on its chest.

Rose grinned at them and they returned it half-heartedly. "We'll only be taking care of them for awhile, anyway," she added suddenly. "Hagrid said he's a little busy at the moment so he's really appreciate someone looking out for the puppies for the moment,"

Al sighed resignedly. "Fine, we'll leave them in the common room for now," He placed the two puppies in the basket and carried the whole thing back to the common room, leaving the Scorpius and Rose behind him. It took him sometime to find someone to look after the puppies. Fortunately, a group of third year girls came down their dormitory after awhile and, like Rose, immediately agreed to look after them. Al heard them cooing and cuddling the puppies as he left. When he came back outside, Scorpius and Rose were nowhere to be seen. He frowned and hurried up the nearest staircase which led to a hallway and another staircase. Halfway down the hallway, he heard a pained moan which he immediately recognized as Rose.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait," he heard Scorpius's voice, all breathless and panicky. This was followed by a muffled thud. "Rose, c'mon," he urged, his voice unnaturally high.

Al picked up his pace and finally reached them in a matter of seconds. They were at the foot of the stairscase leading up to the Great Hall. Rose was sitting on the floor, her knees drawn all the way up her chest and her arms clutching her stomach. She was moaning in pain. Scorpius, white-faced, was crouching in front of her, apparently trying to get her to stand up.

"What's going on?" Al asked, also beginning to worry.

Scorpius turned to him with a look of relief. "She's bleeding," he said. "There's-there's blood on her legs, see?" He pointed and Al saw that small line of bright red blood from somewhere up her skirt had trailed down and snaked around her pale ankles. "Then she suddenly felt faint and then _this_,"

Rose was still rocking back and forth in apparent pain.

"I wanted to take her to the hospital wing," Scorpius finished.

"C'mon, then," Al urged and the two of them forced Rose to uncurl and hoisted her up and dragged her all the way to the hospital wing. Madam Pompfrey admitted them in immediately, placed Rose on a bed and asked the two boys to please leave for awhile. Al and Scorpius waited outside for awhile.

"What's wrong with her?" Scorpius asked tightly. It was apparent that Rose sudden condition had unnerved him.

Al shook his head. "I don't know," he mumbled. "She'll be fine, though," He added as Scorpius still seemed white-faced and wide-eyed, which Al thought was really strange as he himself wasn't that panicky. Maybe Scorpius was afraid of blood.

Madam Pompfrey called them inside after awhile.

"How is she?" Al asked at once.

"Oh nothing to worry about," She answered flatly. "She's just turning into a lady, that's all,"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Scorpius replied.

Madam Pompfrey raised her eyebrow at him. "She's menstruating, my dear boy. It's a natural part of being a woman, in case you didn't know." She turned to look at Rose who was already trying to sit down. "I gave her something for the pain," she told them. "She'll be alright,"

The two boys rushed to her side at once. She grinned at them. "It's just my time of the month, apparently," she told them quite cheerfully.

"Eww," Scorpius commented. Rose shot him a dirty look then turned to Al. "Thanks for helping me,"

"Oh, you're welcome!" Scorpius answered sarcastically. Rose rolled her eyes. "Well, it goes for you, too" she told him hotly. Then she turned back to Al, "Madam Pompfrey said I could leave now. She said it would be better for me to stay inside the school,"

"Okay, let's go then,"

She swung her legs around the bed and was about to stand up when the door burst open and Hagrid came in carrying something over his shoulder. He yelled for madam Pompfrey and laid whatever it was on his shoulder on the nearest bed. It turned out to be an unconscious and very bloody Professor Thomas. He did not seem to notice the three's presence. Al immediately pushed Rose back unto the bed and pulled the curtains around them.

They heard Madam Pompfrey's office door swing open and her hurried footsteps followed.

"What happened?" She asked. "Did it…did it…?"

"No, no, it knocked 'im out, threw 'im against a tree," Hagrid explained. "I only managed to throw 'im ov'r me shoulder and I ran like hell outta tha' place," he finished. They hear Madam Popfrey emit a sound of relief.

"Thank goodness, thank goodness," she murmured. There was a few moments of silence as Madam Pompfrey shuffled about, probably conjuring medicine and bandages.

"How many are there?" She asked after awhile.

"A dozen, maybe more," Hagrid answered gravely. "They formed themselves a nest there,"

"And were they, you know, _transformed?_" she asked in a frightened whisper.

"Half," Hagrid said. "Never seen anything like it," there was another silence. "They've been hunting after centaurs lately. Bane's been complainin'"

The doors swung open once more, followed by the sound of a pair of running footsteps.

"How is he?" said a very breathless Professor Finnigan. "He wasn't…it didn't…"

"He's fine," Madam Pompfrey told him. The newcomers sighed in relief.

"How far out are they?" Professor Neville's voice suddenly asked.

"Really near now. They've taken over most o' the forest, as far as we can tell," Hagrid answered. "It won' be long and they'll be coming out in broad daylight,"

"Who's leading them?" Neville asked. Though his voice was hardly above a whisper, the fear was evident in his voice. Hagrid did not answer at once.

"Greyback," Hagrid answered finally.


	4. Chapter 4: Fang Jr

CHAPTER 4: FANG JR.

Al, Rose and Scorpius left the hospital wing as soon as they had the chance. They waited until they reached the staircase leading down the Slytherin common room before they spoke about what they heard.

"Oh, this is bad," Rose murmured. "Greyback? As in _the _Greyback? Fenrir Grayback?"

"Why? Is he bad?" Al piped up. He has heard of Greyback's name before but he couldn't, for the life of him, remember where and when and why.

"Yeah, what what about him?" Scorpius asked.

"Oh, honestly! Don't you two read the papers?" She said exasperatedly,

"No, I'm eleven," Scorpius answered with a sneer.

"So am I! But I read the papers!"

"Yes, but you're kind of a freak,"

"_Who's Fenrir Greyback_?" Al asked a little louder.

"He's one of those who fought in the Battle at Hogwarts nineteen years ago, for Voldemort's side," Rose explained after giving Scorpius a dirty look which he reciprocated. "He was to be sent to Azkaban along with the other Death Eaters but was reported to have escaped before they can lock him up. There were several sightings of him all over London, and some even claim to have seen him abroad, but those are just rumors," then she frowned. "And now I think he's leading an army that's currently residing in the Forbidden Forest,"

"An army?" Al asked. An image of a crowd of spear-carrying, armor clad soldiers residing in the middle of the forest erupted in his brain. It did not seem too scary, honestly. Rose seems to have guessed what he was thinking.

"An army of _Werewolves_, Al," she said at once. "Greyback once led the largest army of Werewolves Britain has ever seen and not everyone of them was caught in the Great Siege of 1998. In fact, a majority of them are still at large, living in forests and caves, and maybe even the mountains"

The mental image of Greyback's army in Al's head was immediately replaced by a pack of gigantic wolves with large red eyes and long teeth. He shivered slightly at the thought.

"Do you think Greyback's with them? Here in Hogwarts?" Al asked.

"That's stupid," Scorpius answered. "How'd he manage to get in?"

Al shrugged. "Apparate?"

"You can't apparate in Hogwarts," Rose said impatiently.

"Says who?"

"My mum," she answered confidently. "And _Hogwarts, a history 2__nd__ Edition_" she added before Scorpius can open his mouth and criticize her sources.

Scorpius shrugged. "I highly doubt he's in Hogwarts," he said in his bored tone. "My father said he was clever for a Werewolf but still thick in normal standards. I highly doubt he can make up a complicated plan to get into Hogwarts without inside help,"

"I thought you didn't know about Greyback?" Rose asked skeptically.

"Never said that. I asked what's the big deal about him. It's Al here who's living under a rock, not me," he pointed at Al and grinned.

"Rose, we should really go see those puppies. I just left them with a couple of girls I don't even know personally," Al said.

The three of them headed back to the Slytherin common room. Rose and Scorpius argued for awhile before Al opened the wall leading to the Slytherin common room.

"Just cover your ears! It's not fair if you have access to our common room!" Scorpius told her nastily.

"I wouldn't go in your stinking common room even if it was wide open with a gigantic sign that says_ come in, we have cookies!_"

"You're missing the point!"

"_Nigellus_"

"Al!" Scorpius hissed as the wall disappeared to reveal the common room.

"You stay here!" Scorpius spat.

"Gladly!" she retorted coldly. "And hurry up, will you? I'd hate to catch the smell emanating from your poor excuse of a common room," she yelled after them before the wall closed back over the opening.

The common room was empty save for the basket of puppies and a young man sitting crossed-leg beside it. He was watching the puppy with a weird sort of interest.

"Hullo," Al said. The young man jumped slightly at the sound and looked up and smiled.

"Hullo," He answered and smiled. The man was handsome, with wavy brown hair brushed and tied neatly behind his head. "I'm assuming you own these creatures?"

"The puppies? Oh, yeah, kind of," Al answered. "A friend of ours volunteered to take care of it for awhile"

"Oh good. A group of girls asked me to take care of it until a little boy with black hair comes back," he nodded at Al, his eyes scanning him up and down. "Why don't you let your little friend in?" he asked, obviously indicating Rose.

"Who're you?" Scorpius asked, ignoring his question.

"Oh, I'm sorry, how rude," The young man stood up. He was very tall. He walked around the basket and towards the two, his hand extended. "The name's Ralf,"

"Albus Potter," Al said and took his hand. A flash of recognition appeared across Ralf's face. But it disappeared quickly. He shook and with Al warmly then turned to Scorpius.

"Scorpius," Scorpius said briskly without shaking his hand. "Are you Slytherin? Never seen you around," he added with a hint of suspicion.

"That's because I've never been around here for a long time," He answered calmly, apparently unfazed by Scorpius's apparent coldness. "I'm a researcher, actually. I used to be Slytherin back when I was a student but that was a long time ago,"

"How'd you get in?" Scorpius asked in the same skeptical tone.

"I am friends with dear Professor Slughorn, of course," he answered. His tone was still calm. Unnaturally calm, actually. "He kindly allowed me in here to revisit my past life as a student, something many people of an advanced age are fond of doing,"

"What are you researching about?" Al asked.

"I'm writing a book called _A comprehensive guide to Centaurs,_" he answered with a wide smile. "I'll be making my rounds into the forbidden forest sometime this week. I plan to acquaint myself with Firenze, the Hogwart's resident centaur,"

"I don't think McGonagall's allowing anyone near the forest for now," Al said before he can stop himself.

"Oh yes? And why is that?"

"Dunno," Scorpius answered, his bored voice once again setting in. Suddenly, the three puppies began to yelp, apparently too impatient to wait for their conversation to be over. The two boys strode over to the three puppies whose tails were wagging so persistently, their entire body was shaking along with it.

"I think this one's yours," Al said and handed Scorpius the puppy he assumed was Knuckle.

"We're are seriously taking care of this mutants?" He asked, placing the puppy on the floor without even looking at it. Al shrugged and took a black puppy from the basket.

"And this black one's Shade. She's Rose's, right?" He asked. Scorpius shrugged. Al placed it back in the basket.

Ralf knelt beside them and took the Puppy from the basket. "I liked this one," he said to them. He held it close to his face, smiled, then placed it back into the basket. "I think I shall leave now," he said. He gave the two a warm smile and a nod and left the common room.

Al held up his puppy then frowned. "Oh wait," he said. "I think _this_ is Rose's," he plucked the one from the basket and replaced it with the one he was holding. Then he took the basket and left Scorpius who was now busy pushing his puppy off balance and laughing at their feeble attempts to stand up.

"Who was that guy who just left?" Rose asked him as soon as he got out.

"Ralf," Al answered and handed her the basket with the remaining puppy.

"He looks familiar," Rose said thoughtfully then shrugged. "Anyway, thanks for helping me with the puppies, Al. Hagrid said you don't really have to do anything. Just play with them, he said. The house elves will do the feeding and washing and everything. Hagrid said they're just so full of energy, so it's best to keep them busy all the time or they'll wreck havoc all over the place," she smiled and gave Al a quick hug. "I'll see you at lunch, later," she said and left.

Al returned to the common room to find Scorpius pitting the two puppies against each other with unrewarding results. One rolled over his back and the rather skipped away merrily.

"Stupid," He said under his breath then turned and looked up at Al. "What do you think?"

"I agree that they are generally slow at this point, being puppies and all," Al answered and sat on the sofa beside Scorpius.

"That them," He frowned. "That Ralf," he turned instinctively towards the hole as if expecting him to come back. "Strange fellow, don't you think?"

"Kinda reminds me of Lorcan, really," Al said carelessly. "Rose said he looked familiar,"

"Did she now?"

"Maybe he's famous or something,"

"Mmm," Scorpius said thoughtfully. "Maybe,"

Taking care of the puppies turned out to be extremely easier than Rose said. Like she promised, the house-elves did all the feeding and grooming. Apart from that, the entire Slytherin house seem to have develop a general sense of liking for the pups and would often play with them and pet them on their way in and out of the common room where Al and Scorpius usually left them.

On Monday morning, McGonagall lifted the ban outside Hogwarts castle to allow first year students to have their first flying lessons, something Scorpius have been waiting for. The two of them made their way to the fields. Scorpius was continually talking the entire time about how his father bought him this broom and that broom and how he managed to catch a makeshift snitch with his eyes closed, and how he knew how to fly with his hands off the handle, and how he flew so high that one time he was almost struck by lightning.

Al listened absently to his probably unrealistic bragging. He himself did not talk much mostly because he had nothing to brag about. His entire family are Quidditch fanatics. His father was an unmatched seeker in his student days, seeker on his first year, Captain on his sixth year. Even his mother was a decent Chaser. James showed potential the moment he got a hold of a broom. He was a natural, no one can deny that. Their father was so proud to have another natural in the family, he gave James his old Firebolt. In the shadows of their groundbreaking fame and glory stood Al. Al have never been of a broomstick before. He never tried and nobody ever forced him. His mother said it did not matter but Al knew this was because nobody ever expected him to excel at it or anything related to any physical feats, far better than his brother. He was too small, too skinny and too awkward.

"…it was so high, my father looked like a pebble! We're here!" Scorpius finished dramatically. They joined the rest of the first years from other Houses who were already there. They all waited nervously and excitedly for their instructor to arrive. A few moments later, a figure at the end of the field made his way hurriedly over to their huddle. The man was tall with broad-shoulders and an athletic build. He was definitely a first-class Quidditch player.

"You're Oliver Wood!" One of the students piped up. A sudden drone of buzzing erupted.

Wood grinned appreciatively. "You know me? And they said children were not part of my demographics,"

"Are you still playing for Ireland?"

"Not for the meantime, no," he said quite sadly. "I got sick, see? My hearts not really up for too much pressure right now," he shook his head and grinned once more. "But I couldn't just quit, right? So, I'll be your temporary flying instructor and Quidditch referee," he scanned the many faces looking eagerly up at him and his eyes landed on Al. His grin widened.

"Are Potter's boy, too?" he asked. Al nodded stiffly. "Ha! Excellent!" he exclaimed. "I saw your brother fly last week in the tryouts. A natural if I ever saw one. Reminds me of your dad. I was his captain back in the days, you know. Wonderful chap, earned me the Quidditch cup, he did," he tapped Al firmly on the shoulder. "I've got my eyes on you, kid," he said. Al swallowed a giant lump on this throat.

"Alright! Everyone arrange yourself in one straight row in front of me," He called. "Let's get started. _Accio Brooms_,"

Several broomsticks flew overhead and landed neatly on the ground beside each student. Silence filled the air as the first years waited apprehensively for the next instruction.

"Hands above your brooms, please," Wood said, placing a hand over the broom on the ground beside him. "And _up." _His broom shot straight into the palm of his hand.

Several murmurs of _Up_ echoed all around the field. Al opened his mouth and whispered, somewhat hoarsely. Just like Wood's, his broom also flew straight to his hand without hesitation. A great grin spread across his face. The fact that he knew he would fail and did not filled him with immeasurable excitement and giddiness. He turned to Scorpius and he grinned back. His broomstick, too, was in his hand. He turned to Rose who was having troubles with hers. She couldn't get the broomstick to move. She was not the only one. Several other students were jumping up and down and yelling with anger and disappointment. Wood attended to all them as hurriedly as he could. When everyone has finally managed to get the broom to fly into them, Wood called the next instruction.

"Alright, then," He said loudly over the number of whispers and murmurs. "Let's learn to mount those brooms and get our feet off the ground now. Swing your leg over like this, kick off the ground, and.." He demonstrated as he spoke and rose a few inches off the ground. "Let's see you try it,"

Al swung his leg around the broom, kicked the ground and his broom flew a couple of feet off the ground, taking him with it. Al grinned inside and out. He felt at ease on his broom, as if it was just an extension of his body. He tried to direct it to move a few inches here and there. It moved with fluid motions, as if reading his thoughts before he can even make them.

"Let's see you fly a little higher, now,"

Al did as he was told. He rose into the air a couple of feet more, then a few more, then a few more. He rose as much as Wood would allow and was soon hovering high above the field, so high he can see the canopies of the Forbidden Forest. And something in it caught his attention and removed all the bliss of flying from his mind for a while. Somewhere a great distance from Hagrid's hut in the middle of the blanket of trees were several bald patches. They were somewhat hidden by the umbrella of leaves provided by the surrounding trees but once Al spotted that one bald patch, the rest were easy to find. They looked unnatural, like the trees were deliberately cut down instead of falling naturally on their own, creating pale circles distributed evenly around an imaginary center.

"Al!" Scorpius's breathless voice reached his ears. Al jumped slightly and turned to Scorpius who was busy zooming here and there. "What were you staring at?" he asked with a wide grin, his pale hair whipping over his voice.

"Nothing," Al said, cheering again and sharing the felicity of flying that the rest of those who managed to get off the ground were now sharing indiscriminately.

Regular classes resumed that afternoon and every professor piled them up with so much homework that it was only grudgingly that Al and Scorpius made their way into the library afterwards. They immediately spread out their scrolls of parchment and textbooks and half-heartedly began scribbling. Al started his charms homework first on the grounds that at least by the time he stopped caring about getting a good grade and just try to get over the homework, his charms homework will not suffer.

A few moments later, someone pulled a chair across from them. The two of them looked up to see Rose who was also carrying a bunch of books and parchments but, unlike them, was beaming happily.

"What's wrong with you?" Scorpius snarled. He was obviously annoyed by her cheery visage since he himself was slowly becoming miserable under the weight of this unfinished essay.

"You have ink on your nose," she answered haughtily.

"What?"

"Your nose. You've got ink all over it," she repeated impatiently then turned to look at their herbology and Charms homework as Scorpius viciously tried to erase the smudge on his nose.

"That's wrong," she declared, pointing at an area in Scorpoius's parchment, "and that should be revised," she told Al, also indicating a portion of his homework.

"How do you know?" Al said. "You don't even have charms today,"

"I've read the whole book over the summer, remember?" She said.

"Suppose you're done with yours, then?" Scorpius asked wryly.

"Of course! I –Hey!" She exclaimed as Scorpius yanked the entire roll of parchment from underneath her arms and began reading it while dancing out of reach of Rose's hands.

"Give it back, you cheater!"

Al sighed and turned back to his charms homework while the two of them continues their struggle. This went on for a couple of minutes before Al heard Scorpius protest angrily. He looked up and saw the parchment being held above both of their reach, and the one holding it was none other than Ralf.

"You shouldn't make a ruckus in the library, you know," he told them quietly. He handed Rose the parchment and smiled. Rose blushed and murmured thanks. Scorpius just frowned and went back to his seat.

"Hullo, Al, Scorpius," He greeted them with a nod then turned to Rose. "And you are?"

"Rose," she croaked. She cleared her throat hastily. "Rose,"

"Rose," He repeated. "A pleasure," he took her hand gave it a slight kiss. Scropius frowned in disbelief. He turned to Al who merely shrugged. Rose was blushing profusely now that it was hard to tell where her face and ended and her hair began.

"Hey, Ralf, how's your research going?" Al asked.

"Very well, thank you. I have managed to track down Firenze over the weekend and he was able to provide me with valuable information,"

"What do you do, exactly?" Rose asked, still breathless.

"I'm writing a book about the life of Centaurs," he answered with a sweet smile.

"That's fascinating!" She answered at once though Al knew she wasn't talking about the Centaurs.

"Isn't it?" He answered. "Anyway, I better leave. I will see you three around, then," he gave each of them a nod and Rose another smile and left.

"He's creepy," Scorpius said at the same time as Rose said, "He's Dreamy," that for a moment Al thought it was Scorpius who said the latter.

"You're insane," Scropius told Rose. "He's definitely creepy."

"He's a gentleman," Rose said hotly. She pulled Al's homework subconsciously and began reading it. Al opened his mouth to protest as he was still writing on it when she took it but swallowed his thoughts up as she picked up his quill and began scribbling down.

"Hey, you can't do that!" Scorpius protested but Al boxed him on the shoulder and told him to shut up.

"There," Rose declared and slid the parchment back to Al. "I'll see you later, Al," She said and began packing her things. She gave Scorpius her patented dirty look and left the library.

"I'll let you copy my Herbology if you let me copy your charms," Scorpius said after she left.

"She said your Herbology homework was all wrong," Al reminded him.

"Yeah, but I read her homework, didn't I? I remember most of it," he said, grinning.

"Deal."

After dinner, the two of them drowsily made their down the common room and into their respective beds. They were so tired they did not even bother to check on the puppies. The moment Al's head hit the pillow, he was fast asleep.

He woke up several hours later because of a feeling of heaviness on his chest. He wearily opened his eyes and peered into the darkness and the darkness peered back. He jumped and sat up. Fand Jr. was on his chest, crouching and looking back at him with deranged and blood shot eyes. Though his black fur mingled almost perfectly with the darkness, Al could see his outline. Fang had grown ten times bigger, his fur was standing on end, his teeth were long and bared with hot saliva dripping from it and unto Al's neck. His breath was just as fiery and just an inch from his face. Before Al could yell anything, Fang Jr. opened his mouth and grasped the front of his shirt between his teeth and began dragging him toward the door, choking the air out of him. He tried to find leverage on the smooth stone floor and was disappointed. With the last of his strength, he gripped the edge of the curtain of his bed and pulled until it was pulled off its hangings. The sound ripped across the silence of the night and he saw four bodies sit bolt upright. It was Scorpius who saw him first. He took a book from his bedside table and swung it hard above Al. He heard a muffled whimper, a thump and air rushed gratefully into his lungs.

Green torch lights flickered on above and the four of them ran to Al to see if he was okay. He nodded and sat up and turned towards the corner to where Fang Jr. flew.

"Is he..?" he whispered.

Scorpius cautiously made his way toward the dog. He bent down and examined it.

"He's alive. Just knocked-out," he announced. He moved out of the way and Al saw that Fang Jr. was lying on his side and breathing rapidly. He was a small puppy once more.

Note: I am so sorry that this chapter took too long to come out. I was so busy with school and everything. Ah, well. Reviews and Suggestions are greatly appreciated!


	5. Chapter 5: Christmas at the Potters: AL

CHAPTER 5: CHRISTMAS AT THE POTTERS

Al and his roommates found themselves a little later in McGonagall's office, each giving their own version of the events. Almost every portrait of previous headmasters and headmistresses of Hogwarts were occupied though they were all pretending to be asleep. Near the door of the circular room was Hagrid who was noisily trying to stifle his noisy sobs. Every now and then Al heard him mutter under his breat _All my fault..shouldn't have…my fault…_

"Oh for the love of—Professor Hagrid, control yourself!" McGonagall said impatiently. "It is not, and I mean _not_, your fault at all. That dog has been transfigured!"

"'m sorry, Professor," Hagrid sniffed. "I just—I never thought…" he shook his head. "They were goin' after the young 'uns," he muttered. Al wondered what it meant but before he could ask, McGonagall caught his attention.

"Potter," She started. "It's imperative that you tell me exactly who were the people who were allowed contact with the dog?"

"I…uh…I dunno. The whole Slytherin house probably," Al mumbled. He hated being interrogated by authority figures. It makes him queasy. "We just sort of left them in the common room,"

"And that's all?" McGonagall continued. "No one else outside Slytherin house?"

"Well, there's Rose when she gave them to us," Al added.

"There's someone else," Scorpius suddenly said. "That researcher, Ralf,"

"Ralf Ledgerwood?" McGonaggal inquired. "Nonsense,"

"Why's that?" Scorpius asked then hastily added, "Professor?"

"Ralf Ledgerwood could not have place such a powerful transfiguration spell on the dog on the grounds that he cannot do magic," McGonagall explained. "He is what we call a Squib."

Scorpius frowned at this but said nothing more.

"Professor," Al started reluctantly. "Why do you think whoever transfigured that dog was after me?"

"Typical," a cold voice suddenly said from behind McGonagall. "Just as self-centered,"

Without turning her head, she replied, "Good morning, Severus. Nice of you to join us,"

At the sound of Snape's name, Al looked up to see a small portrait behind McGonagall, which was previously empty, suddenly occupied by a think, sallow-skinned professor with a long hooked nose and greasy black hair which framed his face. His eyes were cold and calculating as it looked Al from head to toe.

"Good morning, Minerva," he answered after a while. "I apologize for my intrusion,"

"Not at all," McGonagall said. "Care to shed some light in this situation?"

"Not more that we all already know," He answered, still eyeing Al shamelessly that he was forced to look back down on the floor to avoid its intensity. So this was one of the headmasters he was named after. He did not seem to keen on Al, as far as he could tell. But then again, he looked liked a generally unpleasant character to begin with.

"Then let's end this little chitchat for now," McGonagall said with finality. "It would do us no good to keep these boys here, anyway. Off you go now. You have classes in a few hours. Professor Hagrid, if you don't mind, kindly escort them to their common room," she said and nodded at Hagrid who sniffed and nodded back.

"It migh' be a good idea ter talk ter Dumbledore abou' it, Professor," Hagrid said the moment they were all outside the office.

"I intend to, Professor," McGonagall answered. "Unfortunately, he seem to be the only one here who is genuinely asleep,"

The four boys went into the common room first but Hagrid held Al back for awhile.

"Al," he started.

"Look, Hagrid, it's fine," Al said as gently as possible. He did not want Hagrid to start crying again. "It wasn't your fault, you know,"

"It's jus' that I wanter ter keep them safe, you know?" he continued. "Leaving near the forest an' all with all this commotion goin' aroun'" he shook his head. "Never thought—I don' think they're related though,"

"What not related?" Al asked with curiosity.

"Ya know," Hagrid said. "Those things in the forest. I don' think it's got anythin' to do with the puppies though I don' think Hogwarts needs another problem," he shook his head again.

"Hagrid, why did you take the puppies into the castle?" Al asked carefully. "Does it have anything to do with what's in the forest?"

"It's stange," Hagrid said at once. "Though, I guess it makes sense. Since they can' get to people, them werewolves goes ter the next best thing, eh? The young 'uns an' all," his eyes suddenly grew wide. "Yer not suppose to hear tha'!"

"What? About the werewolves?" Al said immediately. "You mean, it's true?"

"'course not! And you better not go tellin' people abou' it, neither!" he warned. "Wouldn' wan' ter cause a panic, ya hear?"

"You have my word," Al replied. "How did the werewolves get into Hogwarts?"

"I told ya! There ain't no werewolves!" Hagrid said then shook his head. "You really shouldn' go poking yer head in places it don' belong in, Al. You'll just end up bitin' more than you can chew," he sighed and patted him in the shoulder. "Get some sleep, boy," he said and left.

The moment Al went through the common room, Scorpius pulled him aside.

"It's Ralf," he whispered. "I know it is,"

"How'd you figure that?"

"He's no Squib," Scorpius said. "Remember what he said that time? He used to be a Slytherin. You don't get sorted into Hogwarts if you're a Squib!"

"Or maybe he's a Squib who's pretending to be a Slytherin. You know, Magic envy?"

"Then he's a liar!"

"A harmless one. Though it is suspicious," Al said thoughtfully.

"How'd he get Slughorn to give him the password?" Scorpius challenged.

"Friendship? Ties? Maybe he told Slughorn that he'll let him right his Introduction if he let him in? Anyway, that's that my interest right now. Listen to this," Al told Scorpius everything Hagrid said outside.

"There really are werewolves, then?" Scorpius exclaimed afterwards. "And they're feeding on young animals?"

"That's what Hagrid said, yeah,"

"I wonder why they don't attack people?" Scorpius said with a frown. "Maybe there's only a few of them there. Still, it's unsettling, isn't it?"

"Of course it is. There are werewolves in the Forbidden Forest. Those things are always unsettling," he yawned suddenly. "We really ought to sleep, Scorpius," he said and Scorpius followed him up into their dormitory.

For the next few weeks, nothing else exciting happened. In fact, in the midst of all their homework, they soon forgot about the dangers that may or may not be lurking in and out of Hogwarts. The ban to not leave Hogwarts has been modified. The children were allowed to leave the school only in broad daylight and they are forbidden to set foot fifty meters from the edge of the forest. Aside from this, there were not allowed to leave the school grounds a week before and after the end of the month. Al knew the school was trying to match this ban with the full moon patterns though no one else in the school seems to have a clue. They were all honestly just glad to be able to set foot outside once more.

The only thing significant during this time was Scorpius's growing obsession with trying to find out more about Ralf Ledgerwood. For a while, Al shared his passion but as the days went by, he became less and less convinced that Ralf had anything to do with the transfigured puppies. If anything, he seem like the least suspicious to have performed this act. Not only did he show evidence of being totally useless with magic, he was also seriously well-liked by the entire school. He had a certain pleasantness about him that made him amiable with the majority. And the fact that he was excessively handsome raised his popularity with more than half the female population. Even Rose was very keen on him.

"He's very smart, too," She said after a great few minutes of describing every wonderful aspect she noticed on Ralf, from that mole on his chin to the dirt on his boots. "He knows a lot about magic. And he isn't ashamed of being a Squib at all! He said it was an honor enough to be invited to Hogwarts despite his state,"

"Rose," Scorpius said, annoyance clearly heard in his tone. "Why, _why_ do you hang out with us?"

"I'm hanging out with Al, not you," Rose retorted. "You're just an undesirable extension in this arrangement,"

"Funny, I would have said the same thing to you," Scorpius replied just as bitterly. "Anyway, I don't believe that Ralf guy is as great as you think. I know he's up to something,"

"Because of one stupid lie?" Rose said with exasperation.

"How do you know about that?" Scorpius asked suspiciously.

"What did I tell you about being an extension? Al talks to me, too"

"Al!"

Al groaned. He had had enough of this type of conversation. It has been going on for too long in the last few weeks. He stopped in his tracks and rounded on his friends.

"Listen, _Listen_!" he said between gritted teeth as the two continued to talk. "I have had enough of this talk about Ralf! The two of you are unnaturally obsessed with him! All you two ever do is talk and talk and talk about what you think that guy is and isn't and it's getting on my nerves a bit, you know? And you argue! Everytime! You'd think now that you two have a common interest you would get along better!" he turned to Scorpius, "Scorpius, I really don't think Ralf has anything to do with anything. I think you're being paranoid. Rose is right. It was just one lie."

Rose smirked in satisfaction. Al turned to her next. "Rose, I am honestly not interested with the way his hair ripples in the wind, or the way he slurs his R's when he spoke," he said. "I'm really not!"

The two of them remained silent so Al just sighed and led the way toward the Entrance Hall. The three of them had planned to spend that weekend outside. It was early December now and the grounds were blanketed by a layer of snow. There were already students outside, playing with snowballs and running around. The three of them huddled under a tree where Rose produced a small blue fire which she placed inside a jar and in between the three of them.

"Where are you spending the holidays?" Scorpius suddenly asked.

"Home," Al said. "We're spending it at my place this year, aren't we?"

"Yup. Dad wanted to spend it at the Burrow this year but Grandma and Grandpa are going to visit Uncle Charlie for Christmas so that's out of the question. Anyway, Grimmauld is more convenient if you ask me," Rose answered.

"Where are you spending yours?" Al turned to Scorpius.

He shrugged. "My mother wants us to visit her parents this year," He said. "But they're..well, sort of—" Scropius frowned as he tried to think of the best way to describe his grandparents. "They're really fit, you know, for their age. They're like seventy or eighty…I dunno," he frowned again then turned to Al with a serious look. "They,uh….they're into extreme sports," he blurted out. "They always spend vacation in places where you can go mountaineering or skiing….or skydiving!" He shook his head. "My father doesn't like it. I don't like it either. I almost always die every holiday. And whenever they're not defying death they 're criticizing how thin and pale I was and how my father always looks like he just came out of a grave. They don't like him much, I think. Anyway, my father told me if I didn't want to go, I could just stay here in Hogwarts," he shrugged. "It was an easy choice,"

Al couldn't help but laugh at this. A picture of a really old couple in hiking gear trying to push Scorpius down a cliff with jagged rocks belong came into his mind and he laughed even harder.

Scorpius blushed slightly. "You think it's funny? It's not funny, stop it!" he punched Al on the shoulder and grinned. "It really isn't funny, Al"

"It kind of is," Al answered, still chuckling and rubbing his shoulder. "You know what, why don't you spend Christmas with us?"

"What?" Rose protested but Al ignored him.

"I'll tell dad we're bringing you over this Christmas. Mum will like it. She loves new people. Plus, I think she's distraught that James said he and Fred would like to spend Christmas in Hogwarts this year"

Rose frowned but Scorpius was beaming. "Excellent!" he exclaimed.

They headed straight for the Owlery after a while to write to the Potters about their Christmas guest. Al took a piece of parchment from the free parchments near the Owlery's door way as they entered and wrote as he walked. "Dad, Mum. Can we bring over a friend for Christmas? Love, Al," he muttered then looked around for his owl, Mechtilde. Mechtilde is a barn owl with very light browns and whites. Al's mother bought her for him in Diagon Alley before he started his first year. She descended from her perch the moment she saw Al and stuck out her leg immediately. He attached the letter to her leg and told her to give it to his parents. Then he gave her a treat before she flew off into the distance.

The end of term examinations came a week later and drove all other thoughts out of their heads. Even Scorpius and Rose's obsession of Ralf went down a notch. In between studying and cramming, it was a wonder they even managed to find time to talk at all. Rose spent every waking hours in the library and every time Al saw her, her red hair was sticking out in every directions and her face was always buried in a book. And every time he greeted her, she would look at him wildly, give him a twitch that must have been some sort of nod, and walk away. Even Scorpius wasn't acting in his usual aloof demeanor. He was always uncharacteristically quiet and would only talk when Al was asking him questions. And he was constantly stuffing himself with something. He was an avid stress-eater apparently. On the last day of the examinations, everyone in the Slytherin common room looked half-dead.

"Let's just get this over with," Scorpius said exhaustedly. Al nodded and yawned. He only had a couple of hours of sleep last night. "I swear if I pass these exams, I'll never cram again. I'll be like Rose, studying like there's an exam everyday,"

"We'll see," Al said.

And finally the last exam ended and a jolly buzzing erupted from every corner of the castle. For the first time in weeks, they were able to appreciate the Christmas season.

Al and Scorpius went outside the castle immediately and walk along the lake, taking in the fresh winter air and the joy of the end of the exams. Everywhere they went, there were students talking about how they plan to spend their Christmas vacation. Al and Scorpius chose a spot near the lake and sat down and listened to nearby conversations.

"Well, I'm definitely going home," Said a tall girl Al recognized as a Hufflepuff second year. "My uncle's coming over and he always brings lots of super cool presents,"

"Good for you, Angie," Said another Hufflepuff girl, a short girl with glasses. "I'm staying here, though. My cousins are coming over and I never enjoy their company,"

"Al!" A breathless voice called. The two of them turned to see Rose running towards them. "Here you two are!" she said, beaming, and sat down beside them. "Oh, I can't wait to go home!" She exclaimed. "I promised Hugo I'd tell him all about Hogwarts," she said and beamed. Hugo was Rose's little brother who was the same age and Lily. They were not starting Hogwarts for a couple of years. "Anyway, have you packed already? We're leaving tomorrow morning,"

"We'll do it later," Scorpius answered.

"Oh, you're really coming?" She answered flatly.

"You better believe it, Rosie," he said in his usual drawl. "Anyway, you better be nice to me or I'm not getting you anything for Christmas,"

"Don't bother," she said. "I'm not getting you anything, either anyway"

The next day came almost immediately and the next thing the three knew, they were standing in front of the Hogwarts express on Hogmeade station, coats and jackets clasped all the way up their necks and shivering where they stood. Other students who were planning to go home for Christmas were also there, including the hufflepuff girl, Angie. Ralf was also there at the station. Apparently, he, too, was leaving for Christmas.

Finally, they were allowed to board the train and they rushed in immediately, happy to get out of the cold. They found an empty compartment, laid down their things and Metchlide, who came back a few days ago with Al's father's response. Eventually, the train started to move and they leaned back against their seats and waited for it to arrive at King's cross station.

When they finally arrived they found not Al's parents nor Rose's but Kreacher the houseelf waiting for them near platform nine and three-quarters. Kreacher was a strange sight to see, even in King's cross. He was extremely gray and saggy with white hairs sprouting out of his ears and he was wearing a clean sweater that Al's father had apparently given him long before Al was born in an intent to free him. The elf, however, insisted on still serving the Potter family whom he seems to be extremely fond of.

"Young Master," he croaked and bowed.

"Hi, Kreacher," Al said. "Mum and dad home?"

"Yes," he answered. "They just came back from the ministry. They wanted to come pick you up but I insisted that I do it. It's been hectic at the ministry lately, being the holidays and all, and I thought I'd let them rest awhile," he turned to Rose and gave her an equally low bow. Then he turned to Scorpius.

"Ah. And master's expected guest is from the Family of Malfoys," he said. "A pleasure," he said and also gave him a bow then turned back to Al. "We'll be apparating, master," he said and took Al's hand in his and Rose's and Scropius's in the other and the three of them held their breath and waited for the horrible sensation of apparating to appear and disappear. A moment later, they found themselves in from of number twelve Grimmauld place. Kreacher led the way to the front door and the three followed at once.

The front door opened into a long hallway filled with festive Christmas decorations. Miniature candles with green or red ribbon floated on the ceiling above them and the great chandelier was all a lit by a hundred similar small candles which casted a bright glow over the walls and the carpeted floor. The atmosphere was warm and cheery and the smell of something cooking filled their nostrils. Al instinctively walked towards the smell and accidentally tripped over the large Troll's leg umbrella stand that stood on the corner. He immediately reached out and grabbed the curtain covering the large portrait beside the umbrella stand to reveal the face of Walburga Black, Al's father's godfather Sirius Black's mother who used to own the place. Walburga Black, who had previously been sleeping awoke immediately and, upon seeing Al, let out a huge cry of surprise.

"Oh, Albus!" She exclaimed. "Are you alright, dear?"

Walburga Black began telling him off for being clumsy and began asking if he had any broken bones. She was extremely fond of Al and James and Lily to the point that she claimed them as her grandchildren though she spared no love for their parents. Al's father said she used to be vindictive, cursing his existence the moment he claimed the house for himself. But the moment James was born, she became milder. Apparently, she had a soft spot for infants and, as she watched the children grow, she became easier to live with.

"Al? Is that you?" came Al's mother's voice from the kitchen.

"Can you close the curtains, sweetheart?" Mrs. Black said. "I'd like to get some more sleep," she told Al, though Al knew she just wished to avoid having to see his mother whom she still regarded as an invader in the "house of her Fathers".

"Hi, mum!" Al called back.

"Come on over to the kitchen, love," she said. "I made you hot soup,"

Al pulled the curtains shut around Mrs. Black and walked down the long hallway and down the narrow staircase that led into a large, cavernous kitchen filled with the wonderful aroma of hot soup. The moment Al placed a foot inside the kitchen, he felt something grasp him across the neck and squeezed the living life out of him.

"Mum," Al choked. "You're killing me,"

"I'm sorry," She said though she continued to hug him. "I just miss you so much," she gave him a quick kiss and let him go. Beside him, Rose was also being smothered by her own mother and all he could see of them was a tent of brown bushy hair. He turned towards the large wooden table where his father and his uncle Ron was sitting, drinking tea and smiling at him.

"You okay?" His father asked.

"Never better," Al said with a grin. "Oh, and we brought someone with us,"

"That's right," Aunt Hermione said. "Where is your little mystery guest?" she asked and they all instinctively turned toward the stairway. Scorpius had respectfully stood in the distance while the Potters and Weasleys exchanged hugs and kisses, standing in the shadow of the passageway of the staircase.

Al beckoned for him to come in and Scorpius slowly descended the last step and the kitchen's glow bathed his face dramatically.

Al's father and Uncle Ron choked over their cups of tea.

An uncomfortable silence filled the kitchen and the only sound came from the pot of soup that was softly boiling on the stove. The seven of them were sitting around the table, with Al, Scorpius and Rose on one side and the four adults on the other. All eyes were swiftly darting from Al to Scorpius to Rose and back again, their bowls of soup slowly growing cold and forgotten. Both Al's father and Uncle Ron still retained the look of disbelief that they had the moment Scorpius walked inside. Aunt Hermione, however, had a curious look of satisfaction on her face.

"So," Uncle Ron said after awhile. "Scorpius, right?"

"Yes, sir,"

"You're father know you're here?"

"No, sir. I haven't the chance to tell him yet. He's out of town, you see,"

"Oh, really" Uncle Ron said somewhat bitterly, which made Al confused.

"Why don't you three eat?" Al's suddenly said. "You look famished. And you two," she turned to His husband and brother, "better follow suit. I'm not serving the turkey until you clean those bowls up,"

Al felt Scorpius twitch slightly at the word "Turkey". He knew Scorpius was hungry since he's been complaining about it since halfway from Hogwarts. But the fact that he did not even dare touch that bowl of hot soup meant he was extremely uneasy and Al really did not blame him. His father and uncle did not exactly shower him with welcome.

Al turned to his soup and gingerly took a spoonful. It tasted wonderful and reminded him of how hungry he was, too. He took another spoonful, and another. Rose and Scorpius, encouraged by his sudden enthusiasm to eat, did the same. The four of them ate in silence as Al's mother and Aunt Hermione busied themselves with the turkey. Finally, they managed to finish their bowls and, as promised, the Turkey followed.

It was the largest and most delicious-looking turkey Al had ever seen and he knew it tasted just as good. His mother had always been a good cook. His father once said she probably got it from her mother who was also just at adept in culinary arts as she was.

"We better call Kreacher," Al's mother suddenly said. "He's been dying to get a piece of this all morning. _Kreacher!_" she called. There was a loud _pop_ and the old house-elf appeared.

"You called, Mistress?"

"Yes, get a plate. We're starting on the turkey," She told him.

"Oh, mistress is too kind," Kreacher said and bowed. "But kreacher would rather not intrude in the family affair. Kreacher would like to keep Mistress Black company, too, if Kreacher may,"

"Oh, you are always like this," Al's mother said and shook her head. "Fine, take this then," she took a plate and placed a generous serving of turkey on it and some roasted potatoes and handed it to Kreacher who accepted it gratefully and returned to the hallway.

When Al's mother finally sat down, Aunt Hermione turned to Rose. "How's school, honey?"

"It's great!" Rose said. "I've learned every book by heart like you told me to and it really helped me out,"

"Of course it did," Al answered. "What other outcomes are there?" Scorpius sniggered slightly though he covered this up by coughing. Rose ignored them both.

"Oh, good," Aunt Hermione said. "How did you find the teachers?"

"They're great," Al said.

"Bet you think so," Scorpius said with a sly grin.

"Shut it"

"What was that?" Al's mother said with an inquiring look. "Does my little boy have a little crush on a particular teacher?" she cooed.

"He fancies the charm teacher?" Rose said simply.

"What? Professor Flitwick?" Ron said with a confused look.

"Who?" She said and gave her father an equally confused look. "No, the pretty teacher. Chang-Montgomery"

"Chang?" Al's mother said with a frown. "As in Cho Chang?" Then she turned to her husband. "You never told me she's working in Hogwarts now,"

Al's father raised his hands defensively. "I didn't know. Proffesor Flitwicks been teaching charms the two years ago,"

"That was his last year, I think," Aunt Hermione told him. "He retired afterwards. Cho must've taken his place after. She's always been good in charms, anyway,"

"So, she's Chang-Montgomery now? Didn't she use to date that guy, Michael Corner?" Al's father asked.

"That was a long time ago, I think," Aunt Hermione answered. "I heard she married a muggle"

"So little Al's got a crush on pretty Cho Chang, huh," Ron said with a huge grin. He turned to Al's father. "Reminds me of someone I know,"

Al's father just laughed.

"So, how's your family, Scorpius?" Aunt Hermione said in a very sweet and conversational voice. She was obviously trying to overlap her husband's rudeness earlier.

Scorpius immediately swallowed the large chunk of turkey he was chewing on and answered "They're fine, ma'am"

"Where are they spending Christmas?"

"With my Grandparents, ma'am," He answered. "My mother said they haven't seen each other in a long time so she reckons they should go visit them this year,"

"That reminds me," Uncle Ron said suddenly, his eyes bright and he was looking at Scorpius with renewed interest. "Who _is_ your mother? _No, wait!_" He interrupted before Scorpius could answer. "Wait, let me wager a couple of guesses first and you tell me if I'm getting close,"

"What?" Aunt Hermione said in disbelief. "How on earth could you possibly do that?"

"Oh, come on, Hermione, think about it," Ron said impatiently. "How many more pure-blood families could there be? It'll be an easy guess. I've always had my suspicions as to who Malfoy ended up with and I just need someone to confirm it! And behold!" he said and pointed at Scorpius with a sheepish grin.

To Al's surprise, Scorpius gave a small laugh. "My mother's's not Pure-blood," he said.

All four of the adults' jaws dropped open in surprise and this made Al laugh which caused him to choke on the piece of meat in his mouth. They all look like someone just told them the sky was actually red and not blue.

It was Aunt Hermione who spoke first. "I'm not surprised," she said with a shrug. "Malfoy could easily have turned a new leaf and settled for a nice, half-blood. I mean, some of his friends are half-bloods, right?" she turned to Scorpius with a smile as if this settled the matter.

"No, ma'am," he answered. "But my mother's not half-blood either. At least, as far as I know,"

Both Al's father and Uncle Ron roared with laughter at this revelation. Aunt Hermione was just frowning and silent as if she could not believe that she was wrong.

"_He's married a muggle-born!_" Ron exclaimed in between bouts of laughter. He turned to his wife. "And he gave _you_ a hard time,"

"Did he really?" Al's father asked in amusement. "Is your mother muggle-born?"

Scorpius smiled wryly once more. "Oh she's definitely born from muggles," he answered. "As she's a muggle herself"

Al's father stared at Scorpius with a frown. He looks like he's having trouble getting this information in. Something Al found strange as Scorpius said it quite clearly.

"You're mum's a _muggle?_" Uncle Ron said. "What? How?"

Scorpius turned to Al in confusion and Al just shrugged. He was just as dumbfounded as he was with the way his parents and Uncle and Aunt was acting.

"Well, didn't the Malfoys move to the muggle world after Lucius was pardoned?" Aunt Hermione said thoughtfully. "I mean, they did give up the Malfoy manor. I bet Malfoy moved in with them after he graduated from Hogwarts. He had been kind of distant back then, like he'd rather be anywhere else," she said with a frown. "I mean, he did not exactly have an easy time after the Great Siege, right? Even if Harry did vouch for him," she nodded at Al's father.

"What's your mum's name?" Al's mother asked.

"Astoria Greengrass" he answered.

"The doctor?" Aunt Hermione suddenly asked.

"The what?" Uncle Ron asked but his wife ignored him.

"You know her?" Al's father asked. Aunt Hermione shook her head.

"By reputation. She's a psychiatrist, isn't she? I hear she's good but I've never actually met her,"

"A psychiatrist?" Al's father said as a smile crept across his face. "Oh, that's something,"

"_A what?_" Uncle Ron insisted.

"Oh, honestly, Ron!" Aunt Hermione said and shook her head. "Anyway, why didn't you spend Christmas with your family this year, dear?" she said, turning back to Scorpius. "Wouldn't they want to hear about your first year in Hogwarts?"

"I should think so," He answered. "I can always write to them, I guess"

"Well, you should tell them you're here," Al's mother said. "I think you're father would be interested to know that,"

"Right," Uncle Ron said. "I bet he would. I can just imagine Malfoy's face when his boy tells him he's spending Christmas with the Potters and the Weasleys,"

"I don't think he'll be too happy, either, sir," Scorpius said unexpectedly. "I know he's not in friendly terms with your family. It's not exactly a hidden fact back at home,"

"I bet it isn't," Uncle Ron said almost too triumphantly. "Bet he talks about us all the time,"

"Ron," Aunt Hermione said warningly.

"What? He used to bad-mouth the three of us all the time, didn't he? I bet he does that in front of him, too, doesn't he?" he said and turned to Scorpius.

"Actually, he doesn't really talk about you that much," Scorpius answered quietly. "Nor Mr. Potter or Mrs. Weasley,"

"How could he not?" Uncle Ron asked with a frown. "He hates us!"

Al turned to Scorpius and saw that he was looking at his feet now. The whole situation was getting too uncomfortable.

"I don't think he does. But he doesn't exactly like you either," Scorpius said quietly. "He only mentions you a couple of times when he talks about his stay at Hogwarts,"

"Is that right?"

"_Ron,_"

"What does he say, exactly?" Al's father asked, ignoring his wife who was also telling him to settle down.

"He said," Scorpius said slowly. "He said: _If you ever meet a Potter, a Weasley, or a Granger, avoid them if you can but trust them with your life,_" he turned to the four adults who was starring quite intently at him. "He thinks you're good people. I think that he's really grateful that you helped him and my Grandmother, sir," he said at Al's father.

There was a moment of stunned silence followed by the sound of two consecutive _thumps_ as Al's mother stood up and hit both her husband and her brother on the head with the back of the soup ladle.

"_Idiots,_" she told them. Aunt Hermione was frowning at them and shaking her head. The rest of dinner was spent in a better and cheerier mood mostly because after Scorpius's revelation, the rest of the family, namely Uncle Ron, was much warmer toward Scorpius.

NOTE:

First thing's first. I feel like i have to explain why i made Draco Malfoy marry a muggle. I have two reasons. First, when i decided to make this story, i already had this vague idea in my head that malfoy's wife should not be a pure-blood. Either a muggle-born or a muggle would do. It should symbolize malfoy's renewed views in life and stuff. Anyway, when i had that idea, i thought malfoy's wife was nameless and personality-less (based on the epilogue of the 7th book) and was an excellent candidate for fanfiction magic. Unfortunately, i just recently discovered that malfoy's wife indeed had a name, Astoria Greengrass who was apparently a pure-blood and sister of one of Malfoy's previous classmates. So i had to decided whether i should just drop my idea all together and work on the pure-blood wife angle or not. I decided to do the latter. My other reason is more of a genetic concern. After all, if all pure-blood families were related at some point, then it's highly possible that malfoy could be marrying his own cousin or something. So in order to avoid an awkward situation like that, i decided to make his wife a muggle who is sure not to be related to him to decrease the amount of in-breeding that's happening in the pure-blood families. I mean, remember Tom Riddle's mother? She was the best example of too much in-breeding in the family.

I have another purpose for writing this note. First is to explain why i named the chapter "Christmas at the Potters (Al)". This is because i also plan to write the same chapter all over again but in harry's point of view. I wanted to keep the traditional first person point of view, in this case, Al's, for the entire story. Unfortunately, i could not help but feel that it is appropriate to dedicate an entire chapter based solely on how Harry sees his adult life. You know, like a direct continuation of the epilogue in book 7. Anyway, i would just like to make it clear that you DO NOT HAVE TO READ BOTH CHAPTERS. You can just skip the chapter entitled "Christmas at the Potter (Harry)" if you don't feel like reading the same chapter all over again. I promise it will have nothing to do with the plot at all. It's just my guess at what Harry's life is like 19 years later. But since this is really more of an Al Potter story, then Harry's point of view really does not matter.

That's all, thank you. Reviews greatly appreciated! I'll post the next chapter as soon as i can.


	6. Chapter 6: Christmas at the Potter:HARRY

CHAPTER 6: CHRISTMAS AT THE POTTERS (HARRY)

Harry Potter sat in front of his desk with his forehead in his hand. From a distance he looked like he is deep in his thoughts, contemplating the safety of the wizarding world. In reality, he is really fast asleep, even snoring slightly, with a bit dribble on his chin.

Harry jerked awake and nearly toppled over backwards when the door of the Head of Auror office opened with a small creak. He looked up to see Ron Weasley enter with a two large mugs.

"Coffee," he said with a grin. "Thought you'd need it after last night's raid. I know I do."

Harry laughed humourlessly. "Thanks, Ron," he said as Ron placed the two mugs on the table and pulled a chair and sat down across from him. He looked dreadfully tired, with shadows under his eyes and a general gray tint on his skin. Harry knew he must look just as worn-out.

This was not surprising in the least. The Auror office was more pressured into hunting down dark wizards and all other dark magic users ever since the holidays loomed in. It has always been like this. The public demands that the Auror office work double, triple time and round up all possible dangers they might encounter should they want to have a vacation in the mountains or forests, though Harry could never figure out why in the world would they want to spend their holidays there.

Also, the holidays seem to make the public more paranoid, being out of the comforts of their homes and work places. They seem to have this general idea that every other dark wizards out there were bound to attack during the holidays, when every one's guards were down. Harry did not entirely blame them. Everyone knows not everyone liable were captured during the Great Siege, and though most of those who escaped are keeping quiet, hoping the heat on them would go down with time, some were actually reckless enough to cause havoc. Sightings, threats, kidnaps, even an occasional death every other year, it would make anyone paranoid. There were even talks of werewolves living in packs in mountains overlooking small towns. Unfortunately, due to this overall threats of terror, people were more likely to make false alarms. Last night alone, there were thirty sightings and pleas of help. Harry had to dispatch almost all of the remaining Aurors in the ministry during that time. He and Ron had to do investigate ten of those thirty sightings, all of which turned out to hoaxes. One of them turned out to be nothing more than a protective charm made by some crackpot wizard who is convinced that everyone was out to get him. Then there were all these talks of werewolves settling in caves in mountain overlooking little towns.

"You look terrible," Ron told him.

"Thank you," Harry said. "I've been working on it,"

"So," Ron said, frowning slightly at his mug. "What do think of all this werewolves talk going around?"

"I dunno, really," Harry said with a sigh. "They're all sightings, sightings, sightings. There really isn't any evidence and we can't spare any more Aurors for sentinel duty,"

"What about Dean?" Ron said darkly.

Harry frowned at this. It was true that there were no evidence of werewolf attacks, that is, until Neville Longbottom, who had resigned as Auror many years ago to take over Herbology when Professor Sprout declared her retirement, called last September to report an attack on Dean Thomas. There had been talks about Werewolves probably residing in the Forbidden Forest for three years now, which is why Harry had asked two of his former classmates and fellow Aurors, Dean and Seamus to take over watch duty on Hogwarts. McGonagall arranged for them to take over the Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts positions as Professors while on Auror duty so as not to incite unnecessary panic over the school.

"I don't really know what to make of that," Harry said wearily. "Dean said he was attacked by a half-transformed person. It could have been a werewolf, it could have been something else. I mean, it's the Forbidden Forest. Who knows what else lives there,"

Ron laughed hollowly. "That's just wishful thinking, Harry. You don't really believe that,"

Harry echoed his laugh and shook his head. "No, I don't," he said finally and turned thoughtfully at Ron. "But we can't spare any more Aurors, Ron. Not at this time. Kingsley wouldn't allow it,"

"I know," Ron said with a wry smile. Harry felt kind of guilty. Ron had been asking him for months now to transfer him to Hogwarts for watch duty. He knew this was because Ron had been worried to death about his daughter just as Harry was about his two sons. But there were already two Aurors, not counting Neville, in Hogwarts. If he dispatched any more, it might start a panic and parents might start pulling out their children from Hogwarts. And the last thing Harry needed right now was another wave of paranoia.

"Do you think it's true? Greyback's back?"

Harry shook his head. "I dunno, Ron. It seems unlikely, don't you think?"

"You know what Dean said, what that half-werewolf said to his other mates," Ron insisted. "You know, '_You can't kill anyone, not yet. Greyback's orders,_'"

"I know," Harry said. "It just seems unlikely," he said again. "Did Hermione manage that deal with the Magical Creatures department?" Harry had asked Hermione to use some of her former influence over the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures to put aside some sort of funds for the care and protection of Werewolves. Harry had hoped that if they do, then those werewolves who are in hiding would come out to reap its benefits. Harry had this idea from his former Professor, Remus Lupin, who once went undercover as a werewolf in Greyback's army and found out that most of them were just oppressed and discriminated to the point of joining forces with Voldemort in the hope of getting a better life.

Ron shook his head. "They wouldn't touch the case. Said Werewolves weren't really _Magical Creatures_. Said they were more under our Jurisdiction, not theirs. Honestly, I think it's all bull. Nobody in their right minds would take over the Werewolf cases if they can help it. It's much too risky,"

Harry had to grin, then. "We're not in our right minds, then?"

Ro grinned back. "Right you are, mate,"

Hermione was already at the small café when Harry and Ron entered. She had already ordered food for them and was reading the paper when they joined her.

"How's your day?" She asked as they sat down. She folded her copy of the _Daily Prophet_ and placed it on the table.

"Anything new?" Ron asked, glancing at the paper. Hermione shook her head wearily.

"Just the usual," she answered. "You both look terrible," she said with a frown. "What have you been doing ? Did you sleep in the office?" this question was directed more at Ron than at Harry.

Ron gave her a sheepish grin. "We did ten raids last night, I'm sorry. I wanted to go home but I just died on my desk last night,"

"It's the werewolf business, isn't it?" Hermione said, her tone worried. "I'm really sorry, Harry. I really couldn't get them to agree,"

"That's alright," Harry said.

"Well, let's not talk about that now," Hermione said, cheerfully changing the subject. "Is little Albus coming over for Christmas? I heard James wanted to stay at Hogwarts this year,"

Harry nodded. "Ginny wasn't too happy about it, though. But she's cheered considerably since Al wrote he's bringing over a friend,"

"He is?" Ron said. "A girlfriend, perhaps? You're little boy's a man now, is he?"

Harry laughed. "He didn't say. Though, Ginny might go berserk if he did. She's still in her possessive state,"

"I hear she's pregnant again," Ron said.

"No, she's not," Hermione said.

"How do you know?" they both asked at the same time.

"You can always tell," she answered with a frown. "And she'd tell me. Remember? I knew she was pregnant with both James and Al long before you two ever did. You just thought she was growing fat," she added, looking directly at Ron.

"Well, she was!" Ron countered. "Just not from overeating. Anyway, I've always had this theory that she's trying to outdo mum,"

Harry laughed at this. He honestly doesn't mind if Ginny was going to have a couple more children. He knew the moment they got married that he wanted a big family. After all, his times with the Weasleys were some of the best times of his life.

"It's going to be a quiet Christmas this year, though," Ron said thoughtfully. "George and Angelina are going on some kind of tour, I think. And both Percy and Charlie are much too busy. He's helped breed this new type of Dragon, you know, a docile type. Think he's sending one over to Hogwarts in the next couple of years so students can actually see what a real Dragon looks like with getting their faces burned off," He said. "Bill and Fleur's off to visit her parents, too,"

"Victoire's staying with Mrs. Tonks and Teddy, though," Harry said. "I really think those two are going to get married as soon as Vicotire's graduated,"

"Shouldn't be a problem," Ron said. "Bill likes him. They both like their meat rare,"

"They're much too young!" Hermione protested. "They really should get their lives straightened out first," she turned to Harry. "I heard he applied as an Auror,"

"He did," Harry said. "He's taking his exam next year and I have no doubt he'll ace it. He's just as smart as Lupin,"

"And he's a metamorphagus," Ron added. "That's always useful,"

"Ah, well, I really hope he does make it," Hermione said.

After lunch, they paid up and walked back into the ministry of magic together.

There were three _pop_s and Harry, Ron and Hermione appeared in the kitchen of number twelve Grimmauld place. Or what Harry assumed was the kitchen. It might as well be the top of a life volcano. The kitchen was filled with the smell of burnt cooking, and a lot of smoke.

"Ginny?" Harry called as he heard muffled coughing. He took his wand and siphoned all the smoke away to reveal a woman covered in ash and soot and the only clue that she used to be Ginny was her flaming-red hair that was sticking in all directions.

"Why were you trying to burn the house?" Harry asked with a smile as Ginny started wiping her face with her apron.

"Oh, ha ha, very funny, Harry. You really crack me up," she answered sarcastically. She sighed and pulled out her wand. In a moment, both Ginny and the kitchen were spotless once more. The she conjured a large pot of boiling soup and a large turkey inside the oven.

"I wanted to try cooking without magic," she shrugged. "It really isn't my thing,"

"Are the kids here, yet?" Hermione asked as she sat down and conjured four cups of tea out of nowhere.

"Nope," Ginny said. "I wanted to pick them up but Kreacher insisted he do it," she said as she conjured a large soup ladle.

A sudden crash and a muffled thud suddenly erupted from the Hallway. All four of them jumped slightly and turned up toward the staircase.

"What was that?" Ginny said, frowning, the soup ladle suspended in midair before her.

Then the unmistakable sound of Mrs. Black's voice followed.

"Oh, Albus! Are you alright, dear?"

Harry saw Ginny's eyes grow wide with excitement. "They're here, they're here!" she squealed almost childishly. Harry had to smile at this. He knew how much Ginny had missed Al since they let him on the train last September. Though she would not admit it, she had always had a preference for Al.

"Of course she does," Hermione had once said. "He's the sweetest of all your children,"

"No, it's because he reminds her of herself when she was younger," Ron had countered. "You remember that creepy Ginny that used to just go all shy and wide-eyed when you were around?"

Al was indeed very different from his older brother James. While the latter reminds Harry strongly of the young Fred and George Weasley, Al was thoughtful and reserved to the point of shyness. He was even different from his sister, Lily who was more like the headstrong Ginny even at such a young age. No, Al was the sort of child who would stand in a corner and watched things progress silently. Once, when Harry tried to force Al to go mingle with his cousins, Ginny scolded him and told him to let the boy be. But he did get along well with Rose, who was the only one patient enough to deal with Al's quietness, which was much to Harry's relief as he was beginning to think that his son might have anti-social tendencies.

"Al? Is that you?" Ginny called. Al answered back.

"Come on over to the kitchen, love," Ginny said. "I made hot soup," They heard three pairs of footsteps make their way across the hallway above.

"Who do you think they've brought over?" Ron asked and turned to Harry. "Reckon it's a kid of someone we know?"

"I dunno," Harry said thoughtfully. "Maybe, if it's a friend of Rose's, you know. Most of our friends' kids ended up in Griffyndor, too,"

"Hermione thinks it's Malfoy's, though" Ron said with a hint of mocking in his voice.

Both Harry and Ron laughed at the absurdity of this. Hermione ignored them. "It's possible you know," she said stiffly. "Al _is _in Slytherin,"

"Yeah, what's up with that, Harry?" Ron said. "I mean, how the hell does something like that happen. I bet Ginny dropped him on his head when she gave birth to him," he sniggered.

"Oh, shut up, Ron!" Ginny said, flushed. Ron and George had been tormenting her about Al's sorting results for the last three months and it's been getting on her nerves. "So what if he's in Slytherin? It doesn't matter," though Harry knew it did. Not for him, though. But Ginny's been getting a hard time, most of it, if not all from her brothers, since she was the first in many generations of Weasleys to have a child sorted into Slytherin.

They heard the footsteps on the stairway and turned to see Al step into the room. Before Harry can say anything, a blur of bright red rushed pass him to fast, he nearly got knocked off his chair. Ginny wrapped her arms around Al tightly that Harry was afraid his thin body would crack. Rose entered the kitchen after Al and Hermione ran towards her just as Ginny did. Harry and Ron simply sat on the table and waited their turn to greet their kids. They both knew that Hermione and Ginny had been suffering some sort of delayed separation anxiety over the last few months, imagining all sort of worst-case scenarios that they could possibly get into. Harry did not blame them, not after his own Hogwarts experience.

Finally, the two allowed Al and Rose to re-experience breathing. The two turned to him and Ron and they both smiled back and nodded.

"You okay?" Harry asked his son.

"Never better," Al answered with a grin. "Oh and we brought someone with us,"

"That's right," Hermione said, "Where is your little mystery guest?"

All six of them turned toward the stairway where a thin boy was standing, his face hidden in the shadows. Harry saw Al motion him forward and he gingerly made his way down the last steps and unto the stone floor. The glow of the kitchen slowly washed over his face to reveal a thin boy with pale, blond hair and a familiar pointed face.

Both he and Ron chocked over the tea they were drinking. Their guest was none other than Scorpius Malfoy.

An uncomfortable silence filled the kitchen. Ginny had forced all of them to sit down and served them each a bowl of hot soup that nobody dared to touch. Harry stared at Malfoy with a mixture of confusion and wonder. The boy reassembled Draco Malfoy, his father, so uncannily it was unnerving. He could feel Ron squirming uncomfortably on his seat beside him and he knew he must be thinking the same thing. Hermione, however, looked somewhat smug.

"So," Ron said in a very tight voice. "Scorpius, right?"

"Yes, sir,"

"You're father know you're here?"

"No, sir. I haven't the chance to tell him yet. He's out of town, you see,"

Harry could not help but marvel at the boy's politeness, something that never escaped Draco Malfoy's lips in the entire time they've been together in Hogwarts.

"Oh, really," Ron said with a hint of bitterness in his voice. While Harry and Ron were off chasing after false alarms and sleeping in the office, Draco Malfoy was on his vacation. After all, what's the Department of Mysteries have to do with all these talks of werewolves and dark wizards?

"Why don't you three eat?" Ginny said with a smile. "You look famished. And you two," she turned to Harry and Ron, "better follow suit. I'm not serving the turkey until you clean those bowls up,"

Harry noticed how the three children's faces brightened at the thought of Turkey, especially Scorpius, he had been eyeing his bowl of soup hungrily the entire time. They must really be starving. He watched as Al, followed by Rose and Scorpius gingerly took spoonful after spoonful. Hermione got up and helped Ginny with the turkey while Harry and Ron exchanged thoughtful looks above the three children's bowed heads. Finally, the turkey was served. Harry knew that the turkey should taste as good as it looks. After all, even though Ginny wasn't skilled at muggle cooking, she knew how to use spells to her advantage. She was just like Mrs. Weasley that way.

"We better call Kreacher," Ginny said. "He's been dying to get a piece of this all morning. _Kreacher!_" she called. There was a loud _pop_ and the old house-elf appeared.

"You called, Mistress?"

"Yes, get a plate. We're starting on the turkey," She told him.

"Oh, mistress is too kind," Kreacher said and bowed. "But kreacher would rather not intrude in the family affair. Kreacher would like to keep Mistress Black company, too, if Kreacher may,"

"Oh, you are always like this," Ginny said and shook her head. "Fine, take this then," she took a plate and placed a generous serving of turkey on it and some roasted potatoes and handed it to Kreacher who accepted it gratefully and returned to the hallway.

Kreacher, like Dobby, was a free elf. Harry had freed him the moment he went back to number twelve Grimmauld place. The house elf, however, wanted to keep serving the Potter family, whom he not regarded as the rightful owners of the Black residence.

"How's school, honey?" Hermione said, smiling at her daughter.

"It's great!" Rose said. "I've learned every book by heart like you told me to and it really helped me out,"

Harry had to smile at this. Though Rose looked just like every other Weasley, with her long, flaming red hair and freckles, she acts and even speaks so much like Hermione.

"Of course it did," Al said under his breath. "What other outcomes are there?" Scorpius coughed slightly.

"Oh, good," Hermione said. "How did you find the teachers?"

"They're great," Al said.

"Bet you think so," Scorpius said with a sly grin.

"Shut it"

Harry and Ron looked at each other.

"What was that?" Ginny said with a smile. "Does my little boy have a little crush on a particular teacher?"

"He fancies the charm teacher?" Rose said simply.

"What? Professor Flitwick?" Ron said with a confused look. Harry nearly choked on his turkey.

"Who?" Rose said and gave her father an equally confused look. "No, the pretty teacher. Chang-Montgomery"

"Chang?" Ginny said with a frown. "As in Cho Chang?" she turned to Harry with her eyebrows raised all the way up her scalp. "You never told me she's working in Hogwarts now,"

Harry raised his hands defensively. "I didn't know. Professor Flitwick's been teaching charms the two years ago," he said, which was true. He visited Hogwarts two years ago to check on the Werewolf situation with Dean, Seamus and Neville.

"That was his last year," Hermione told him. "He retired afterwards. Cho must've taken his place after. She's always been good in charms, anyway,"

"So, she's Chang-Montgomery now? Didn't she use to date that guy, Michael Corner?" Al's father asked.

"That was a long time ago, I think," Hermione answered. "I heard she married a muggle"

"So little Al's got a crush on pretty Cho Chang, huh," Ron said with a huge grin. He turned to Harry. "Reminds me of someone I know,"

Harry laughed somewhat uncomfortably.

"So, how's your family, Scorpius?" Hermione said a little too sweetly. She is obviously trying to get the boy into the conversation.

"They're fine, ma'am"

"Where are they spending Christmas?"

"With my Grandparents, ma'am," He answered. "My mother said they haven't seen each other in a long time so she reckons they should go visit them this year,"

"That reminds me," Ron said suddenly, "Who _is_ your mother? _No, wait!_" He interrupted before Scorpius could answer. "Wait, let me wager a couple of guesses first and you tell me if I'm getting close,"

"What?" Hermione said, her eyebrow raised. "How on earth could you possibly do that?"

"Oh, come on, Hermione, think about it," Ron said impatiently. "How many more pure-blood families could there be? It'll be an easy guess. I've always had my suspicions as to who Malfoy ended up with and I just need someone to confirm it! And behold!" he said and pointed at Scorpius with a sheepish grin.

Harry had to agree with this theory. To be honest, he never actually thought Malfoy would get married. He always assumed that he'd just spend the rest of his life locked up in an attic somewhere. For a few years, Harry thought so, too. Until he applied for a job at the Ministry of Magic around fourteen years ago.

To Harry's surprise, Scorpius gave a small laugh. "My mother's not Pure-blood," he said with a quizzical look.

Harry felt his jaw drop open. The child might as well have said that his mother was a blast-ended Skrewt.

Hermione who spoke first, her calm demeanor resettling once more. "I'm not surprised," she said with a shrug. "Malfoy could easily have turned a new leaf and settled for a nice, half-blood. I mean, some of his friends are half-bloods, right?"

"No, ma'am," Scorpius answered. "But my mother's not half-blood either. At least, as far as I know,"

Harry and Ron looked at each other and roared with laughter at this revelation. Hermione remained in a shocked state.

"_He's married a muggle-born!_" Ron exclaimed in between bouts of laughter. He turned to his wife. "And he gave _you_ a hard time,"

Harry could not believe it. Malfoy had got himself in a lot of trouble calling every mugge-born he knew _Mudbloods_ back in the day and here he was, married to one. Ron looks like it was already Christmas. He had no doubt that Ron would spend the rest of January stalking Malfoy and not letting this rest.

"Did he really?" Harry asked Scorpius. "Is your mother muggle-born?"

Scorpius smiled wryly once more. "Oh she's definitely born from muggles," he answered. "As she's a muggle herself"

Harry frowned at this. He was beginning to think that the boy might be pulling his leg.

"You're mum's a _muggle?_" Ron said. "What? How?"

"Well, didn't the Malfoys move to the muggle world after Lucius was pardoned?" Aunt Hermione said thoughtfully. "I mean, they did give up the Malfoy manor. I bet Malfoy moved in with them after he graduated from Hogwarts. He had been kind of distant back then, like he'd rather be anywhere else," she said with a frown. "I mean, he did not exactly have an easy time after the Great Siege, right? Even if Harry did vouch for him," she nodded at Al's father.

This was probably true. Hermione was the only one of the three of them who ever finished her Hogwarts education after the Battle at Hogwarts. So did Malfoy. She had mentioned before how he was always on his own, avoiding company as much as possible. He was less of a show-off and more of a shadow by the time the year was over. Harry did not blame him. Having ex-death eaters for parents, and being one himself, he must have been shunned by most of the Hogwarts crowd. It was already surprising that he even went back to Hogwarts in the first place.

As far as Harry knew, after the Malfoys were pardoned of their previous allegiance and after spending some time in Azkaban, the Malfoys brought another manor somewhere in London where they had been living with Muggles. Harry assumed that this was due to being banned from using magic for life and being discriminated against by society. Whether their son lived with them after Hogwarts was unknown, though it was highly possible as Harry had never heard of Malfoy again for years to come after 1998.

"What's your mum's name?" Ginny asked.

"Astoria Greengrass"

"The doctor?" Hermione suddenly asked, her face filled with utter surprise.

"The what?" Ron asked but Hermione ignored him.

"You know her?" Harry asked. Hermione shook her head.

"By reputation. She's a psychiatrist, isn't she? I hear she's good but I've never actually met her,"

"A psychiatrist?" Harry said. He felt a smile creep across his face. "Oh, that's something," he said. So, Draco Malfoy was getting muggle therapy?

"_A what?_" Ron insisted.

"Oh, honestly, Ron!" Hermione said and shook her head. "Anyway, why didn't you spend Christmas with your family this year, dear?" she said, turning back to Scorpius. "Wouldn't they want to hear about your first year in Hogwarts?"

"I should think so," He answered. "I can always write to them, I guess"

"Well, you should tell them you're here," Ginny said. "I think your father would be interested to know that,"

"Right," Ron said. "I bet he would. I can just imagine Malfoy's face when his boy tells him he's spending Christmas with the Potters and the Weasleys,"

"I don't think he'll be too happy, either, sir," Scorpius said unexpectedly. "I know he's not in friendly terms with your family. It's not exactly a hidden fact back at home,"

"I bet it isn't," Ron said with a sneer. "Bet he talks about us all the time,"

"Ron," Hermione said warningly. Harry frowned, too, but not at Ron. Of course, Malfoy would talk about them to his boy. Malfoy, the master of all nasty lies. He wondered what sort of things he would tell his child about them. For the second time that day, he was striked by how much this boy reassembled his father, one of his least favorite people.

"What? He used to bad-mouth the three of us all the time, didn't he? I bet he does that in front of him, too, doesn't he?" he said and turned to Scorpius. He sounded almost angry. Harry turned to Scorpius who looked confused and sort of small. He was constantly starring at his knees. Al turned to Harry, frowning. This conversation was obviously getting too uncomfortable.

"Actually, he doesn't really talk about you that much," Scorpius answered quietly. "Nor Mr. Potter or Mrs. Weasley,"

"How could he not?" Ron asked with a frown. "He hates us!"

"I don't think he does. But he doesn't exactly like you either," Scorpius said quietly. "He only mentions you a couple of times when he talks about his stay at Hogwarts,"

"Is that right?"

"_Ron,_"

"What does he say, exactly?" Harry asked, ignoring Ginny who was eyeing him dangerously just as Hermione was doing with Ron.

"He said," Scorpius said slowly. "He said: _If you ever meet a Potter, a Weasley, or a Granger, avoid them if you can," _he said then added, "_but trust them with your life,_" he turned to the four of them who were starring quite intently at him. "He thinks you're good people. I think that he's really grateful that you helped him and my Grandmother, sir," he said at Harry.

There was a moment of stunned silence followed by a sharp pain at the back of his head. Harry turned to see Ginny also hit Ron with the ladle on the back of the head.

"_Idiots,_" she told them. Hermione was frowning at them and shaking her head. The rest of dinner was spent in a better and cheerier mood. Both Harry and Ron felt somewhat better toward Draco Malfoy. Maybe he had turned a new leaf after all.

Harry, Ron and Hermione remained in the kitchen while Ginny ushered the children into their rooms.

"You know, I like that boy," Ron said suddenly, with a grin across his face.

"No, you don't" Hermione said, frowning at him. "You butchered him," then she smiled. "Well, I still can't believe Malfoy's married a muggle. I always thought he'd end up with Pansy Parkinson,"

"Well, I still can't believe he's getting therapy," Harry said with a grin.

"What?" Both Hermione and Ron said in surprise and confusion.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Oh come on! He's married a Psychiatrist? You don't think that's odd?"

"No," Hermione said. "When my Father married my mum, he didn't do it because he needed a root canal,"

"A what?" Ron asked. Hermione rolled her eyes and explained to him what was going on, including Harry theory following her explanation of what a Psychiatrist was.

"If he was mental why didn't he go to St. Mungo's then?" Ron asked frowning.

"Because he doesn't think he needed help," Harry said. "Come on, it makes sense. He's like the youngest death eater ever and he's seen more than his fair share of death. I mean, he plotted Dumbledore's death for a year. You remember what he was like then! And his family's getting threatened and everything and Voldemort's lived under his roof for who knows how long. It'll unhinge anyone,"

"You reckon he got all weird that his parents actually forced him to see a doctor?" Hermione asked thoughtfully then nodded. "It makes sense, actually. They would have taken him to St. Mungo's but with all the wizarding world still crying for their blood, they might have thought it was safer to seek Muggle help instead of leaving their son all helpless in a hospital full of people who got hurt by deatheaters,"

"And you remember how he suddenly appeared at the Ministry five years later," Harry said.

"I do. He just walked in carrying that a _Daily Prophet_ in his hand and asking of the job opening," Ron said. "It was the strangest thing. He looked like he was sleep-walking, you know. He doesn't seem to recognize anyone,"

"No, he did seem in a daze," Hermione said, lost in thought. "Like he was doing some sort of horrible thing and would rather get it over with as soon as possible. I remember how healthy he did look back then. Better than he did back at Hogwarts,"

"You reckon he's already married, then? Maybe his wife threatened to leave him if he doesn't get a job?" Ron said with a grin. Harry grinned, too. The whole idea was so absurd, it was immensely funny.

Hermione shook her head. "No, he wasn't wearing a wedding band around his finger,"

"How'd you know that?" Ron asked in surprise.

"The job he applied for was at the Magical Creatures department. I was still working there at that time, remember. I was one of those who interviewed him. I took his fingerprints. He wasn't wearing a ring,"

"Maybe he just took it off," Harry offered.

"You ever take that off?" Hermione asked impatiently, pointing at the gold band around Harry's left ring finger. "No? I thought so. Neither do I. Anyway, it wouldn't make sense. The Malfoys are so rich, they could just stop working and enjoy retirement a hundred times over. He doesn't need a job,"

It was true. Despite giving up the Malfoy manor, the Malfoys still had enough accumulated wealth over the years to afford a luxurious life for years and years to come.

"Maybe his parents cut him off," Ron said and sniggered.

"They betrayed the Death eaters to look for their son. You really think they'll just cut him off just like that?" Hermione said, a little amused. "Anyway, he took the a job at the office of Misinformation. I thought it was really appropriate since lying was his forte. Then he got transferred to the Department of Mysteries a couple of years later,"

"Yeah, how in the world did he manage to get a job there?" Ron asked. "It's suspicious, if you ask me. You don't just get promoted to Unspeakable just like that!"

Hermione shrugged. "I was already Transferred to Magical Law Enforcement before they transferred him so I really have no inside information on that matter. But I agree, it is suspicious,"

"I wonder why he did marry a muggle, though," Harry thought.

"Maybe he just likes her," Hermione said. "I think it's romantic,"

"Listen to yourself, thinking Malfoy's romantic," Ron said in disgust. "Anyway, it's obvious, isn't it? Why he married her?"

"Why's that?" Harry and Hermione asked.

"She's pretty!" Ron said as if this was the most obvious thing in the world.

"How'd you figure that?" Hermione said with raised eyebrows.

"Oh you've seen her at the station!" Ron said exasperatedly. "She's really pretty. Right, Harry?"

Harry nodded as he tried to remember the woman beside Malfoy at the station last September. "She is, actually," he answered and laughed. "Oh, this is rich. We're finally getting dirt on Malfoy yet we're much too old to actually torment him about it,"

"Says you," Ron said. "Just a couple of fliers in January ought to do the trick,"

The three of them laughed.


End file.
